admin
Arts Reporter
It is well known, especially by those in showbiz, that Zimbabwe is still under Level Two Covid-19 lockdown regulations that are supposed to be strictly followed.
The restrictions include a curfew which starts at 10pm ending at 5.30am, while social gatherings remain limited to 100.
This is what organisers of the much anticipated hip-hop/amapiano music show featuring South African popular disc jockeys and twin brothers Bandle and Banele Mbere knew already, or at least should have known.
After all, they had spent the week hyping the show, giving it a catch moniker: “The City Shutdown”, to attract the attention of music lovers and fans of the brothers, who are also known as the Major League.
But the organisers chose to ignore all the rules in the book on Saturday night, allowing hundreds of revellers at the Palm Estate in Borrowdale, the venue of the show.
What is also surprising is that by 10pm, the time by which the venue was supposed to have been cleared in line with the Covid-19 regulations, Bandle and Banele, the major acts, had not taken to the stage.
Instead, the hundreds of attendees were being entertained by local acts who were warming the stage for the popular twin brothers.
Well, this was obviously bound to attract the attention of the authorities, and the result was that the police had to intervene to clear the venue and ensure the rules governing the spread of Covid-19 were strictly followed.
At the end, the so-called “The City Shutdown” show ended up shutting itself down due to the ineptness of the organisers.
Although Major League had performed on Friday at a private birthday party of music promoter Collin Manyore, they were scheduled to play at Palm Estate on Saturday, then yesterday in Bulawayo.
The disc jockeys took it to social media to announce their unhappiness at the turn of events at Palm Estate, suggesting they had not been briefed about the Zimbabwean Level 2 lockdown settings.
They then promised a free show to compensate their fans.
“Zimbabwe, we are put in the dark, just like you are,” the brothers posted on social media. “We are trying to find out why they have shutdown the whole show and what’s the plan moving forward. Will update you as we find out more.
“We want to sincerely thank each and every person that came out to our show at Palm Estate in Harare. We unfortunately couldn’t get on stage to perform due to the police not allowing us to. This message is to assure fans that we will be back in December for a free show.”
Some say the show also attracted the attention of neighbours who wrote a petition to the police prior to the event to bar it because it was likely to breech Covid-19 rules and cause noise pollution for them.
“Promise me you will not write my name because I am not the chair of the committee,” said a 41-year-old man from the area. “I am just commenting because you kindly asked me to.
“We have been complaining about how the place is causing chaos in our surroundings. Firstly, they need to understand it is a residential area and there are people staying there. It is very noisy and they damage our flowers and lawns.
“Some end up urinating and smoking weed by our durawalls, which is not conducive for the environment. I am happy the show was stopped as per Covid-19 regulations and restrictions. We tried talking with one of the promoters, but he was boastful and ignorant.”
Another source told this publication that the organisers of the show did not do a diligence plan on how they could host a show of such magnitude in light of Covid-19 restrictions.
After the police intervened, some fans started chanting songs demanding their money back since Major League had not performed.
One of the disc jockeys Tinotenda “Rimo” Marimo, popularly known as Rimo Jackson, was whisked away after some mob started booing him.
Efforts to get comment from the organisers were fruitless as their phones were off.
Online Reporter