adminMbongeni Msimanga Sunday Leisure Correspondent
BULAWAYO’S five member acapella female ensemble Nobuntu has returned from their month long European tour and has dispelled rumours that the group may be crumbling after the departure of two influential members. The two who left the group are Claire Dangerembga who joined Bongo Love and Bridget Dube who also quit the group for yet to be spelt personal reasons.
The group successfully performed at 15 venues in Belgium and Germany and believed that all their shows were memorable as they managed to put up grand performances leaving fans asking for more.
They left for their tour in November and returned on 24 December after performing at reputable venues such as St Augustin, Teo Otto Theatre and Krönchen Centre.
“We performed at 15 venues and this time around one of the shows was in Brussels the capital of Belgium while the rest of the performances were in Germany. This is our second time having an international tour as we were in Austria in 2013.
“Nobuntu has never crumbled and it will never crumble because of the departure of a member. Claire Dangarembwa got a good opportunity with another group hence her absence in the group as we know it. Bridget, however, left for personal reasons,” said group member Duduzile Sibanda.
However, Duduzile said the change of group members has so far not affected the concept, sound and culture of Nobuntu and believed that they have penetrated more European ground as evidenced by the way fans responded to their songs.
“The change of faces from time to time is well taken care of. We always make it a point that nothing disturbs the sound, concept and culture that Nobuntu has always provided. All our shows were memorable in the sense that all our audiences were different in a special kind of way and they liked the music that we offered them,” she said.
Duduzile said they were working towards getting more recognition locally, and this would be done by having more performances at schools and festivals in and around the city and country this year.
She said more collaborations and concerts would be done this year with other groups in an effort to get a better following.
“Home is where the hard work is because we have to work hard to get recognition. We hope to perform in a lot of schools this year and hopefully every festival in the country. We will also organise our own concerts from time to time or collaborate with other groups in various concerts,” she said.
The group was founded by Dumisani Ramadu Moyo — a member of sensational imbube group Insingizi currently based in Austria through his 10th District stable. It initially comprised Duduzile Sibanda, Siphiwe Dube, Claire Ratidzo Dangarembga, Joyline Sibanda and Heather Dube.
However, they recently recruited Zanele Manhenga and Thandeka Moyo on their recent one month international tour as replacements to Claire and Bridget.
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