A mini survey carried out by this paper when it visited Musina (South Africa) and Manica (Mozambique) early this month indicated that music piracy was rife in the two countries.
Pirated copies of the most sought-after musicians such as Kapfupi, Sulumani Chimbetu, Alick Macheso and Tongai Moyo have flooded the pavements in both border towns, including old hits from Leonard Dembo, Marshall Munhumumwe, John Chibadura and Thomas Mapfumo.
A single CD contains 10 to 15 albums of various musicians, which are illegally mass reproduced and sold for a paltry R5.
In random interviews several street vendors indicated that Zimbabweans in exile were at the epi-centre of the illegal practice.
Luke Manuwere, a Zimbabwean street vendor based in Musina said, “Zimbabwean music is becoming more and more popular here. As you can see hama dzekumusha dzazara kuno (Zimbabweans are flocking here) and local music is in high demand.”
A Venda street vendor also highlighted that, “Zimbabweans here are so much into their home brewed music. (Aleck) Macheso’s music is big business here. We get supply from Zimbabweans who bring the CDs here from Beitbridge.”
In Manica the street vendors sang the same tune. Arimando Eduardo said, “The albums are supplied by Zimbabweans. They know who is causing waves there (Zimbabwe) and which musicians are popular.”
The street vendors said that they were not hassled by their local police for breaching the international copyright laws.
They also said original albums of Zimbabwean musicians were not available on the market, making pirated music the sole source.
“Most Zimbabweans can not find their favourite albums in the shops here (Manica). We are the only people who supply such music so this will take time to end,” said another street vendor who identified himself as Dimingo.
Post published in: Entertainment