BY PRESTIGE MUNTANGA
UNITED KINGDOM-BASED Zimbabwean Afro pop music crew, Sinazo has collaborated with Dalubuhle “JustPercy” Mpofu and Tholukuhle Sibanda to sing against Gender Based Violence (GBV) on a track titled Tears Streaming released over the weekend.
Director of the group Tishabona “Tish” Malaba told NewsDay Life & Style that he was inspired by the GBV campaigns and activists who were advocating for peace and harmony amongst families.
“I realised that Gender-Based Violence was real and then decided to make something to raise awareness as families were being torn apart by domestic disputes mainly as a result of COVID -19 induced lockdowns,” he said.
“I was shocked with statistics on how COVID -19 pandemic has promoted an escalation in gender-based violence against women and girls in Southern Africa. I wonder how many people were aware of these statistics which prompted me to pen an awareness song,” he said.
“Statistics provided by Amnesty International show that in Zimbabwe, an organisation that offers protection for women survivors of domestic violence, had documented 764 cases of gender-based violence in the first 11 days of the national lockdown. By June 13 2020, the number was 2 768.”
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Tish said people need to change their misconception that men show love to their wives by beating them.
“There are evil beliefs in Southern Africa that men have to beat their wives to prove love. It is abuse and lockdown made it worse,” he said.
The Sinazo group was formed in January 2014 in Johannesburg, South Africa to promote Kalanga language and culture through music.
The group became pioneers of what is known as Kalanga house music.
Sinazo was nominated Best Group at the Zimbabwe Music Awards 2020 (ZIMA) held in Harare.
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