NEW: Celebrated Ndau artists honoured 

Online Reporter

JOYCE Simango, a Zimbabwean writer and first black woman in Rhodesia to publish a novel, was among three prominent Ndau-speaking people who were honoured at the recently held Ndau Festival of the Arts (NdaFA).

NdaFA, which seeks to promote the Ndau language and culture, was held in Bangure Village in Chipinge on Saturday.

The festival, which was attended by thousands of people, is the brainchild of Phillip Kusasa, a local culture enthusiast.

Simango’s fictionalnovel “Zviuya Zviri Mberi” was first published in 1974.

Henry Bwerudza, the late accomplished painter who was based in Mwacheta Village in Chipinge, was also honoured posthumously.

A fine painter, Bwerudza’s drawings and paintings mostly adorn the United Church of Christ in Zimbabwe (UCCZ) churches in Manicaland.

His works have also found their way into galleries in Europe and beyond.

Flight Rufaro Mlambo, a young poet who became an internet sensation after reciting a captivating Ndau poem on Covid-19, was also honoured.

Kusasa said by honouring the trio, the festival has managed to partly achieve one of its major goals – to promote Ndau language and culture.

“In the past, the Ndau language and culture were not adequately highlighted in the national and international press.

“Very few people, for example, are aware of the fact that the history-making writer, Joyce Simango, hails from Chipinge,” Kusasa said.