MAGOLIDE Foundation founder, Sazini Tshuma has appealed to the Bulawayo arts industry to come to the rescue of street country music singer, Tafi Dube who lost his musical equipment to thieves during the just-ended festive season.
The incident left Dube heartbroken and Tshuma expressed her heartfelt concern over Dube’s life of being an entertainer who is not recognised in the industry after mentoring a lot of local artistes.
Tshuma told NewsDay Life & Style that Dube, a visually-impaired street singer who plies his “trade” at Bulawayo Pioneer House building, is struggling to make a living, after some cheeky rogue elements stole his speaker.
“I went to give Dube some Christmas groceries before the festivities began and I found him sitting hopelessly at his place. I asked him why he was not playing his music and he tearfully told me that people had stolen his speaker, so he could not make money for that day,” Tshuma said.
“I was deeply hurt by this. It was a very emotional moment, and I took him home since his day was already ruined.”
The well-wisher is inviting donations for the singer to help him pay his monthly rates. He is currently living with his wife, who is also visually-impaired.
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Tshuma raised further concern that people are hiring him for free, yet singing is his only way of eking out a decent living.
“He has been hired locally, for free, which makes it difficult for him to meet his needs at the end of the day. I am also asking that he gets the recognition he deserves in the Bulawayo arts industry, because he has mentored a lot of artistes and clearly has built a name for himself with what he has been doing all along,” Tshuma said.
MaGolide Foundation is an organisation launched last year to assist less-privileged members of the community in St Peters, a settlement outside the city.