One year on, creatives remember Cont Mhlanga

IT was a windy Monday morning on the first day of August last year when the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe director Nicholas Moyo broke the news that would fill hearts with unbearable angst.

Cont Mhlanga was no more after succumbing to pneumonia.

Behind him, a trail of the good deeds he had done for the arts industry followed him.

Such a legacy has led to events management company, DAB Three Events producing a documentary tribute for the late arts doyen dubbed, “Tribute to Cont Mhlanga” to be aired on Tuesday on its YouTube channel.

Through DAB Three’s podcast channel, Enkundleni Exclusive, the documentary which will feature diverse creatives including William Nyandoro, Memory Kumbota, Kuda Takundwa, Future Dube, Zenzo Nyathi, Ramsey Kay and Sadee who will give light on how the artists viewed the late Mhlanga.

In an interview with Chronicle Showbiz, DAB Three’s Archy Hadebe highlighted the importance of honouring legends.

“It’s very critical to honour our fallen heroes hence we document and teach others about the legends who paved ways for the arts industry. I remember Mhlanga’s teachings in the seminars that I attended where he spoke passionately about sharing knowledge and making arts a better space for all,” Hadebe said.

Actor Zenzo Nyathi reflected on memories with the late arts stalwart.

“I’ve many memories but think for me it’s just to say malume Cont, there is and will always be one malume for me. He once said to me, ‘Nyathi don’t chase after money, hone and perfect your craft, then over time, money will chase after you’.

“Till today, I’m holding on to that message. I’m grateful and thankful to his wisdom. He will be forever missed,” Nyathi said.

Mhlanga’s daughter Gcina said life has not been the same without him.

“Life without umdala has been eye-opening and has had us really putting things into perspective. A larger part of us still can’t believe that he’s really gone because he left a really huge void in our lives. The unfortunate thing about losing someone like him is that you don’t get time to properly grieve the loss because our loss can’t just be contained within the family.

“There are so many other elements at play that divert one’s attention from grief because there remains a lot of interest around him and his work. We miss him a lot,” she said.

Gcina continued: “We’d like to thank Dab Three Events for this tribute, it’s heart-warming to see that people still remember him. They have managed to help rekindle memories about him that we can always look back to whenever we think of him. We’d have loved to commemorate and celebrate his life in a much bigger way, but unfortunately, we’ve had to direct all our resources towards renovations at Amakhosi in preparation for re-opening it in September.

“To us, making sure Amakhosi roars back to life to reclaim its former glory, or even surpass it, is the biggest tribute we can do to celebrate and preserve his legacy.”

Gcina said she misses the times she and her siblings would pass by Amakhosi to see their father’s work.

“The older children were a little unfortunate because he was at the peak of his career during the time we were still under his roof so he was rarely home. We spent a lot of time with him at Amakhosi where we’d pass by after school. That’s when he’d teach us all sorts of things to do with his work.

“As we grew up, he always motivated us to somehow do the kind of work that complemented his work.

“The younger siblings had a much better relationship with him as he spent more time with them. He was more fun around that time. He was pretty much what he was like with everyone else, always taking the opportunity to speak as a chance to drop some knowledge of some kind,” she said.

The documentary shot last year at Mhlanga’s funeral will air at 1000hrs CAT.

Cont wrote more than 20 plays during his illustrious career among them The Good President, The End, Sinjalo, Children on Fire, Games and Bombs, The Members and Vikela. He had three books to his name. He was afforded a state-assisted funeral in recognition of his works in the arts industry. — @MbuleloMpofu