Richard Muponde Gwanda Correspondent
MAPHISA-based music outfit Zonda Mthakhathi shrugged off stiff competition from 10 other bands to scoop the Chibuku Road to Fame (CRTF) Matabeleland South title. For its efforts, the group won $1 000 and earned a ticket to represent their province at the national finals in Harare. The competition, held at Manzamnyama Cocktail Bar in Gwanda on Saturday, was exhilarating as the groups churned out scintillating performances in an effort to outshine each other.
Eventually, one group had to prevail and it was the Masgandi outfit which mesmerised patrons especially with their song Jehova. Tshitshi Brothers who also did not disappoint as they fared well with performances which would have left Mokis Connection green with envy, came second. They were awarded $500 while the third placed group, Kafusi Sounds, received $300.
Zonda Mthakhathi leader, Brian Ncube said they were elated to have come out tops.
“We see God’s hand in all this as we never expected to win this competition. All groups performed very well, such that the first prize could’ve fallen to any of the groups other than us. However, we are very happy to have won this competition,” Ncube said.
He said they were now preparing for the national finals.
“If all goes well and we don’t encounter any misfortune, we’ll be in Harare representing our province. We’ve been there before and although we didn’t get any recognition, we learnt a lot. This time, we’re going to perform as men and make sure we leave a mark at national level,” said the group leader.
The group is not new in the provincial finals as they came third in 2013 after which they scooped the first prize the following year and represented the province at the national finals.
