Chronicle Editor
Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent
THE coronavirus scourge that has ravaged Europe has got Zimbabwe’s dance group Iyasa contemplating postponing or cancelling their planned tour of that continent, while Austria-based Imbube trio Insingizi’s tour of Italy has been cancelled.
Beginning of April every year, Iyasa usually travels to Europe with a contingent of 10 artistes, to kickstart their tour and return to Zimbabwe in August. Their tour takes them to Germany and the Czech Republic.
However, Austria, the country where they are normally based has banned all public events and closed schools until April.
According to the Austrian government website on Tuesday, Minister of Health Rudolf Anschober, whose country according to vindobona.org has 246 coronavirus cases, said: “Outdoor events with over 500 participants must be cancelled, indoor events with over 100 people also. This applies from Wednesday until the beginning of April.”
With this in mind Iyasa director Nkululeko Dube said they were thinking of postponing their tour.
“The point for now is, we haven’t cancelled anything yet. But it could be possible that we have to postpone our tour there that starts in April until August in light of that. The financial losses are significant because we booked and paid flights for people well in advance. And airlines do not give refunds, because this is a natural cause and not a cause of their own,” said Dube.
He said since their target market was schools, universities and theatres, they were affected.
“Naturally this affects us as this is our business. Even our promoters there are in discussion with us to try and plot what to do next. Even though they can say come and we go, but people will start self-isolating, meaning, that they’ll not attend evets. Our target market is schools, universities and the general public which have been closed down by authorities in fear of the coronavirus,” said Dube.
He added that they were also cautious not to travel to Austria and put their lives at risk.
“It’ll be folly of us just because we want to travel to Austria to fulfil our yearly tour and we put our lives at risk. We are also cautious about it that’s why we are trying to find a compromise with regards to this and see how we can save the situation,” said Dube.
Also, the Austrian government has effected a travel ban especially on people travelling from Italy, the worst affected in Europe, that the country shares their southern border with.
Italy, as of yesterday, had 827 deaths caused by coronavirus.
The Italian government has placed a quarter of the population in lockdown in an effort to halt the rapid spread of the coronavirus.
This has affected Insingizi, who are based in Austria, as two shows at the hier und da Festival in Italy have been cancelled.
According to the festival’s website: “Due to the current situation and development regarding the coronavirus, it was decided to cancel the event here. A replacement event is planned for October 23 and 25.”
Insingizi group member Vusa Mkhaya said they were in limbo.
“It’s not easy to plan ahead because we are in a limbo right now. We don’t know if other gigs will be cancelled as well. But the hier und da Festival we were supposed to perform at has been cancelled,” said Mkhaya.
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