Chronicle Editor
Rutendo Nyeve, Features Correspondent
ON Friday, 27 August 2021, a dark cloud engulfed the country’s academic circles and spread its unforgiving tentacles to various social media platforms.
It was just after 9pm when news started trickling in through different platforms that Bulawayo Polytechnic principal Engineer Gilbert Mzenzi Mabasa affectionately known as “The Teacher” had passed on. It came exactly 10 days after this reporter had an interview with Eng Mabasa in relation to his enthusiasm for social media particularly WhatsApp where he created “thousands” of groups.
Having been introduced to the masses in 2009, WhatsApp is a relatively latecomer to social media yet it’s growth since then has been rapid. WhatsApp enables communicators to do group targeting and also allows the creation of groups according to similar interests and start discussions with users of the group. This helps targeting people with similar interests and demands. It also increases the chance of going viral thanks to the sharing of content by participants of the group among their contacts.
It is through those groups that the brand “Teacher” grew tremendously so much so that news of his passing on also reached thousands of people through them. Groups such as, Teach Me Teacher (TMT) 1-10, Party Politics, Politics and Power, Widows and Widowers, Accommodation 1-9, headline not even a third of the hundreds of groups that The Teacher created and administered.
While those that have been privileged enough to attend tertiary education would confirm how difficult it was to access, talk to or even see in some instances the Principal or Vice Chancellor, on the contrary Eng Mabasa reached out to millions from across the globe through his WhatsApp groups.
With regards to engagement, while there has been anecdotal evidence of WhatsApp playing a central role in civic, social, political and economic engagement, negative effects of WhatsApp have also been recognised such as the platform being “weaponised” and exposure to falsehoods.
Thus, before this reporter conducted an interview with Eng Mabasa, he narrated his ordeal on how a scourge worse than the inanimate Covid-19 had infiltrated his groups and tarnished his image as some of his groups have been stolen from him by people some of whom are duping others.
He said there were “WhatsApp terrorists” who were trying to benefit from what they did not start and in the process derailing the noble idea of people being brought closer to services and development through social media platforms.
He had no kind words for one man who infiltrated one of his groups that sought to help people who were looking for accommodation and asked if Sunday News could help expose him and possibly let people know that the group was not an estate agent group but a social platform whose objective was to connect landlords and tenants free of charge.
Eng Mabasa said his groups Accommodation 1-9 had been invaded by fraudsters who were benefitting from desperate house seekers. They were demanding an arm and a leg for facilitating accommodation. He said in one of the groups he was removed from being an Admin and the person who removed him remained the only Admin in charge of the group leaving a lot of questions than answers on the moral intention of the person.
Describing the person, Eng Mabasa said, “He is a fraudster. He infiltrated my group, took it over and removed all Admins I had left in charge. He made himself solo admin and has turned the group into his personal property. Many people got on it on my reputation or brand because I have shared the link in many places. Granted he is not reinstating me as Admin. He can’t remove me as I created it. It pains me to see all these people being duped in my name and in my face.
“It stings me different from the bite of Covid-19. There is a team of them in the group. I am passionate about serving the community and I am pained at this selfish abuse. At law, as the creator of the group, I remain accountable for all that happens. This is my story for the first part of your feature.
There you have a man in oxygen in isolation battling with Covid-19 but still touched by a scourge worse than the inanimate pandemic, a scourge arising from the evil heart of a man who is prepared to kill the integrity of all others for his economic gain. The silly thing is that I have even taught how WhatsApp groups can be created. This is someone deliberately riding on my brand and good will. Such must be stopped,” said Eng Mabasa then.
This will probably come as a warning of how these groups should be administered even at a time his Lord has called him to a higher place. He wanted the integrity of the social platforms he had created to remain.
Referring to what he called WhatsApp terrorists he asked this reporter to expose them before their activities spread like a gangrene, “Please help me get better on this front. We have their names, numbers, houses they have advertised, tenants and others who were hustled out of the group. I am passionate about serving the community and am pained at this selfish abuse.
“Right now, I just want to stop this guy from abusing my group. That is a live matter with me. It shouldn’t take ten minutes to get me back as Admin and I control my group. He can have his clients transferred to his group which I can help him create if he is not too proud to learn. Just tell him you are a journalist and have learned how he took over my group. All I ask is for him to give me back my group or you, as a journalist, will dig into his activities and make a story for the world,” he pleaded.
Eng Mabasa didn’t want the platforms he had created to be abused for selfish gain and this reporter took heed of his plea and contacted one of the people who had hijacked his accommodation group. Fortunately, the guy, for fear of the embarrassment that comes with exposure decided with haste to do the right thing and surrendered the group to its owners and Eng Mabasa was a delighted man.
“I have never kept count of the number of WhatsApp groups I have so far created but it must be over a thousand. Each group is intended to create an area or platform for the public to address a particular subject or societal needs and the idea is to connect people with what they are looking for as well as to encourage the space for public debate,” he said.
Asked on how he managed them, Eng Mabasa said, “I don’t manage the groups. I create the environment and spirit towards the purpose of the group and appoint Admins that are competent and committed to the group’s purpose. Many groups are created on request by the public. For instance, there is a group on Widows and Widowers which I created on request although I am neither of them,” he said.
The interview with the late educationist was also done via WhatsApp.
Online Reporter