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Gwala said this during his show held in Bulawayo at New Savanna, formerly Paparazzi, on Saturday evening.
Freddy said during the days of apartheid in South Africa he used to steal cars and when he got arrested that was when he realised that crime did not pay.
“We used to steal cars from the whites during the time of apartheid. This was the time I thought I was clever. When I got arrested I realised that crime does not pay. That is why I composed the song Ngeke ngiphinde ngintshontshe imoto, I had learnt my lesson. When you are given a sentence of 10 years that means you are dead for that period because there is nothing happening in your life,” he said.
The pint-sized Freddy was in the country to promote his album Mama which was released last week.
He said the album was dedicated to his mother as he was apologising for not listening to her when he was growing up resulting in him being arrested.
“Mama is about me apologising to my mother, because as a young man growing up my mother would go to church and we used to ignore her advice. At the end of the day I got arrested because I failed to listen to her,” said Freddy.
He said the track Wang’phinda futhi’s message was about a jail bird finding his wife pregnant for the second time after being released from jail.
“The song says I got arrested for the first time and then when I was released I found you pregnant and then for the second time I got arrested, then I was released, Wang’phinda futhi ngomntwana olekhanda elikhulu (I found you pregnant and the child you bore does not resemble me). That is the general message behind the song,” said the 51-year-old Freddy.
Thereafter he performed in front of a vociferous crowd that requested songs like Matshidiso (Ndofaya), Gumba faya, Amadamara, Ejele, Anginamali, Izinyo lami, Tshilamoya, a dedication to Highlanders Football Club, among other hits.
He was backed by a local seven member all-female group, Afro Queens.
Freddy got on stage at about midnight and belted tune after tune for an hour before taking a 30-minute break. He was using a CD as backing tracks saying: “Bringing a live band to a club is very expensive. I am just here to promote my album and show fans I am still alive and kicking.”
The revellers, numbering about 150, were kept on their feet until the wee hours of yesterday.
After the show, Gwala took his act to Tsholotsho.
Online Reporter