The Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Dr Jenfan Muswere has confirmed the appointment of a new board for the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), amidst anger about tribalistic comments made by two of the national public broadcaster’s presenters about Ndebele monarch King Lobengula.
ZBC has come under fresh scrutiny this week following the emergence of a video that showed a segment of last Tuesday’s edition of Good Morning Zimbabwe on the public broadcaster.
The off the cuff conversation between the two presenters, Farai Magada and Victoria Manase, seemed to reinforce the age-old stereotype that the Ndebele king had sold the country into colonisation for mere sugar.
The conversation had started as a trivial question about what had happened in South Africa in 1994.
“Ah vakajairira apa [They were disdainful here]. I think Lobengula ndiye akatanga [is the one who started this], pakuzoda shuga apa [he craved sugar], like…” said Manase at some point during their exchange.
Magada tried to steer the conversation away from her co-presenter’s I’ll convinced point by saying : “I don’t think it was Lobs’ fault, that wasn’t the man’s fault. It wasn’t hahaha.”
Manase however, insisted on her initial point.
“Aida shuga [he loved shuga] too much, and you know vanhu vakangoti ava ka munongovapa tunhu tudiki [and colonialists felt that these people, you just give them trinkets] and you know…” she said.
The comments follow a controversial cartoon last month by ZimDaily, in which the website superimposed opposition antagonist Sengezo Tshabangu on the body of Ndebele King Lobengula carrying a bag of sugar.
Meanwhile Muswere confirmed the appointment of the new board. A process that seems to have begun before the latest furore.
“I am pleased to advise that His Excellency the President Cde Emmerson D Mnangagwa has authorised me to appoint you as a board member of the constituted board of directors for the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation.
“The ministry looks forward to working with you in delivering on the strategic mandate of the ZBC. The ministry will draw up numeric contracts that are performance-based.”
Former ZBC chief executive Ms Helliate Rushwaya is the new chairperson and the other board members are Mr Lewis Uriri, Mr Chipo Nheta, Ms Precious Charandura, Mr Charles Munganasa, Dr Henry Mukono and Dr Nanette Silukhuni.
There was nothing tribalistic about the titbits comment by those 2 presenters. Their discussion covered RSA, the Rudd and Moffat treaties and colonialism in general. But in a society that has skewed development and hence tribal polarisation its not surprising to pick out one aspect of the presentation and frame it upon a particular political agenda
Obert Nyambira better say ‘I see nothing tribalistic’ and nobody is going to argue with you.
Zibusiso Mpofu .. and what do you see tribalistic
Obert Nyambira if you don’t see nothing wrong it’s fine I’m not going to argue with you.some things are better said at beerhalls not on national TV.a young child might be listening and believe it as gospel truth whilst it is known that the scramble of Africa was done in Europe on a table.documented history says whites arrived in Cape colony moved to transvaal fort Victoria then Salisbury eventually to Bulawayo on their way to Cairo maybe everyone was given sugar on the way.this mentality of I see nothing wrong has caused wars and deaths in the world.recently Europeans were seeing nothing wrong in drawing a cartoon of Allah or burning a Koran
Zibusiso Mpofu .. I totally agree with you that when certain facts are deliberately twisted to suit a certain agenda they can cause conflict. It’s a historical fact that King Lobengula signed the Rudd and Moffat treaties. It’s also undisputed that during the negotiation process/signing ceremony tea or coffee was shared, which is standard procedure anyway. It’s also factual that the white men gifted the King as a way of appreciation. Even Mashona Chiefs were gifted for cooperating with the white men. Amongst the gifts was sugar, guns, and other trinkets. The narrative that King Lobengula signed off the whole country for packets of sugar is a deliberate distortion of historical facts… That distortion has unfortunately been used to cause division and animosity in society. Unfortunately some political parties who did not raise issues when the sugar thing was attributed to Sengedzo Tshabangu and a caricature of Tshabengula was posted in newspapers aligned to opposition parties; these same political parties are raising hoarse voices just becoz the Lobengula/sugar issues was discussed on national broadcaster. Those 2 girls probably didn’t realize the effects of their so-called trivia discussion. But for the whole nation to be fixated on that harmless issue is quite unfortunate