Chronicle Editor
Angela Sibanda, Showbiz Reporter
While most artistes focus on self-development using their income from shows, Lupane-born poet and comedian Obert Dube sets aside a part of what he makes for philanthropy.
The Pan-African award-winning poet uses his social platforms to reach out to well-wishers to assist the needy people in communities and a close look into his Facebook page shows videos and pictures of beneficiaries before and after getting help.
Among the people that he helps are those living with disabilities, vulnerable children, old women and youths in rural communities.
The artiste is one of the celebrated achievers who rose from humble beginnings and it is from his life story that he draws the motivation to give back to those in similar circumstances.
In an interview, Dube said he was abandoned by his relatives and he owes all his success to people who took care of him, though he was not related to them.
“When I was young, no one from my biological relatives was willing to take care of me. I grew up with a struggling family that took care of me as if I was part of it, but it was people who were not related to me,” he said.
Most of his attention is now directed towards old women whom he said reminded him of the love that he got from the women who raised him.
“I love old women. I call them intombi zami (my ladies) because they have so much love. When they greet me, they kiss my hand, and to be honest, that makes me so emotional because I was raised by women who loved me.
They raised me without any help from men,” he said.
However, the philanthropic road has not been an easy one for the poet as he has been ridiculed by many who accuse him of using the poor to gain popularity.
The ‘Futhi nikisi’ comedian said he has been cyber-bullied and still continues to receive negative responses from those close to the people that he would be helping.
“In our society, being a philanthropic artiste is hard because people assume that I do everything for fame, which is not true,” he said.
“And because I am not rich, I take videos and pictures with those who need help and post on my social media pages with the hope to get help. And when it comes, I take videos again to show people that those in need will have received help.”
He said he does this as a way to allow people to share their stories so that well-wishers see that he is not using anyone to get anything and it also shows that people would have indeed received their goods.
Dube said so bad has the situation been that some have gone as far as threatening to sue him.
“One headman stopped his people from receiving help from me saying I’m a satanist because no man would just give people without expecting something in return,” said Dube.
“During strict lockdowns last year, I was giving groceries monthly to some households which were finding it hard to survive. Someone reported me to the police saying I was spreading Covid-19 because I was going door to door.”
On another account, Dube posted a 15-year-old girl who was employed as a cattle herder and when her relatives saw the post, they insulted him.
“I posted asking for help from well-wishers and the relatives started commenting accusing me of lying and using their relatives to gain fame. I had to record a video of the young girl talking about her situation to clear the air,” he said.
The young girl got assistance and she managed to write her Grade Seven examinations last year.
“She’ll be going to Form One at the age of 17. As someone who went to Form One at the age of 19, I see nothing odd with that as long as someone is willing to utilise the opportunity,” said Dube.
Despite all this, Dube said he remains unfazed and will continue helping those in need.
The multi-lingual poet also runs the Obert Dube Foundation Trust through which he has been doing humanitarian work with the hope to change lives. Last year, he paid school fees for 289 kids in Matabeleland North before extending his charity work to Matabeleland South and Midlands provinces.
Dube boasts of a National Arts Merit Award, Bulawayo Arts Award and two other awards from Swaziland and South Africa where his poetry has been received with much appreciation.
He also performed at the All-Africa Youth Conference held at Desmond Tutu Conference Centre in Nairobi, Kenya recently.
Online Reporter