Pirates prey on Charamba

The new album, titled “Mwaka”, is being sold at R10 in the streets of South Africa’s capital city Pretoria, Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.
The album, with eight songs, is selling like hot buns and vendors in the black market sector are making an average of R1 200 to R2 000 (about US$230) a day.

“Mwaka” carries the songs “Unochemei”, “Tendeuka”, “Hatigone”, the title track “Mwaka”, “Rauro”, “Tapinda”, “Vongai Jehovah” and “Mukaka WaMai”.
“This new gospel album is a perfect challenge to Bless­ing Shumba’s ‘Mboni’! We are happy that Pastor Charamba’s album is making us realise profit for Christ­mas, otherwise the outlook was a bit gloomy.

“Had it not been for his ‘Mwaka’ album and the latest by Blessing Shumba, I was not going to go home for the Christmas and New Year holidays,” said Shamiso, a Pre­toria music pirate, who refused to give her surname for fear of victimisation.
Shamiso said she only sells Zimbabwean music, partic­ularly that by Pastor Charamba, Shumba, Alick Macheso, Oliver Mtukudzi, and old collections from Leonard

Dembo, John Chibadura, Simon Chimbetu and Ketai Muchawaya.
Even South African nationals in Johannesburg, like Mlungisi Gaxa of Soweto, are also into illegal selling of Zimbabwean music from which they are making quite a fortune.

“Unemployment here has caused me to try selling music from across the Limpopo, and it has made me a mid­dle-class man.
“Before venturing into this (selling Zimbabwe music), I used to hate Zimbabweans for invading our market as well as taking our jobs, but now, I have realised

that God has blessed me through connection with Zimbabweans.

“My target market is Park Station, Fourways, Wood­mead, Northgate, Westgate, Eastgate and Southgate,” Gaxa said.
Last Thursday Pastor Charamba announced that he had started working on a new album that will hit the shelves next year.

Pastor Charamba did not give dates for the release of the new album, which is already generating millions of rands in South Africa.
“I will be releasing another album, next year, but it is too early to talk about dates,” Pastor Charamba said.

Pastor Charamba’s  albums include “Pashoko Pangoma”, “Exodus”, “Sunday Service”, among others.
Zimbabwe has an estimated three million people in South Africa, whose majority feel connected to their country while in foreign lands through music by such superstars as Oliver Mtukudzi, the Charambas, Shumba, Alick Macheso, the Chimbetus and Thomas Mapfumo among others. — CAJ News.