Artists of Vhembe stand up against music piracy

Read: 3945

A group of singers and musicians in Vhembe, under the aupices of Nambi Dza Devhula, embarked on a district tour where they sang against piracy.

On Friday and Saturday, at least 20 singers and performance artists descended on Louis Trichardt and entertained the people at no cost.

The chairperson of Nambi Dza Devhula, Avha 'AJ' Tshisevhe, explained that the project is an anti-piracy campaign of Nambi Dza Devhula and the South African Music Rights Organization. The project is meant to educate the community about the problems that affect the arts, the economy and morals.

“We sang and conveyed the message to the audience,” Tshisevhe said. “We strongly believe that piracy could even stop overnight if people stopped buying the stolen stuffs. If the law-enforcement agencies started to rebuke the syndicates decisively, piracy would be a thing of the past.”

He said that there were people who used to work in formal records bars and recording studios on a full-time basis, where the government was able to collect tax revenue through the music industry. “But everything good has turned bad in the hands of people who preach love, peace and stability every day,” he said. “This scam has killed many of our people's jobs.”

Nambi Dza Devhula sent out a plea for the nation to fight piracy. They explained that artists, like all other people in communities, had responsibilities. “We are parents who need to support and maintain our lives and those of our families as well,” he said. “If all of the Vhavenda artists could stop producing their talent due to piracy, Vhavenda will never again have artists of their own and artistic expression.”

A reggae artist, Witness 'BlackJahman' Ntshangase, said the campaign was successful. “More fayah, Jah people!” he said. “This time we have talked – one voice of more than 20 musicians unitedly coming out as one. This time we spoke to the ears that listened.”

He said that South African citizens would not take the law into their own hands but would rather take responsibility by not buying illegal, counterfeit CDs and DVDs. “The future of this country is in our hands to do right, teach right, influence right, model right and live right,” he said. “Two wrongs will never make one right.”

By: Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.