BY DUDUZILE NDLUKULWANI
STAKEHOLDERS in Bulawayo yesterday convened a meeting to look for solutions to Vuzu parties, a social vice seen as promoting immorality among youths.
The meeting, organised by the Bulawayo chapter of Junior Chamber International in partnership with Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) and Betterman Foundation, sought to enquire into the Vuzu parties culture rocking the city. School-going children are reportedly attending the parties, where drug abuse and sex orgies are commonplace.
Participants at the meeting said the culture posed a threat to the future of the young generation and must be stopped forthwith.
Junior Chamber International president for Bulawayo chapter Sinqobile Ndlovu said there was need for evidence-based policy and dialogue interventions to curb the vice.
Trevor Gurajena, a youth representative gave a background of the parties.
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“Vuzu parties started as a plain party, where children would go and dance to music, but nowadays they indulge in sexual activities, as well as abuse drugs and alcohol,” Gurajena said.
“There are different types of Vuzu parties and these include the plain Vuzu party, the $5-Vuzu party, where there would be a minimum of 10 girls and 10 men who get into a sex competition. The one who sleeps with all the girls becomes the king and the lady who sleeps with all the boys becomes the queen; they also share the money obtained from the attendance fee,” he explained.
Gurajena said there was another Vuzu-party type called “Slash”, which involved adults who form groups of singles, widows, widowers and divorcees.
Bulawayo Metropolitan Affairs minister Judith Ncube described Vuzu parties in the city as a threat to future generations.
Participants noted that parents of most of the teenagers who host the Vuzu parties were in the diaspora.
Police have started coming up with measures to thwart the Vuzu activities.
“We, as the (Zimbabwe Republic Police) have started investigations into the problem, but we believe we can work together as parents and teachers to stop this behaviour,” Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube said.
Personnel from the health sector said Vuzu parties were a health threat to all those who partook in them.
They said participants risked contracting and spreading sexually transmitted infections and HIV.