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Following in a hero’s footsteps

We shall always remember music’s fallen heroes who are too
numerous to mention. We shall forever be grateful for the
young lives they inspired and every life they touched with the
melodies they sang: every song forever in our hearts, every
moment treasured by families and fans alike. May their souls
rest in eternal peace. One such young life inspired by Zimbabwe’s

Sungura fallen
hero Fanuel Tazvida ‑ better known in the music industry as
System Tazvida ‑ who passed away on February 4, 1998, is
Peter Mathonsi. Peter was born in 1987 in Zimbabwe’s south-eastern district of
Chiredzi. The small district ‑ put on the map by Hippo Valley
Estate ‑ was popularised by its sugarcane production. The
majority of its inhabitants are Shangani speaking. Born to be a performer, Peter talks passionately about music. “I was born with music in my blood. From the tender age of
five, I would follow the sound of music till I get to the source. I
would walk alone as far as 10 km just to be where the music
was being played,” Peter says. Adding, “If I heard System
Tazvida’s music while my mother was talking to me I would tell
her to immediately keep quiet so I could listen to my musical hero. I love System Tazvida’s music. I know every song he sang
and I have all his albums.” Peter says he started writing his own songs at the age of 13. “I
still have the book I wrote in,” he laughs, “unfortunately, none
of the songs were ever recorded.” In early 2004, Peter’s love for music drove him out of
secondary school, where he was the leader of a music club, to
join Four Lions Band, an army band in Masvingo. Unamused by
Peter’s decision, his father sent an army of his own to rescue
him from the madness and take him back to school. His father’s
friends took him to South Africa later that same year where his father was residing. Once in South Africa, his father
immediately sent him to train as a radio, cellphone and TV
technician. Later on, Peter trained as a CCTV Technician and
works as one in one of Johannesburg’s malls. In 2010, Peter decided to trace his hero’s footsteps and released
a six-track album, ‘Murhangi wendlela’ a Shangani title meaning
in Shona, “Muzivi wenzira” and in English, “the one who knows
the way”. The album was done in Venda and Shangani. Curiously, there is no song with the title of the album. “Yes,
that’s true, but on song number 6, ‘Hipfune Tatani’ I sing,
‘murhangi wendlela hiwena tatane’,” said Peter. “It just means
the album is a way paver and also a plea to God to show me
the way.” His album, unfortunately, did not do well on the market. Peter did not only play the lead and rhythm guitar on all the
tracks on the album, but he was the lead singer as well. “The album was inspired by true events in my life. I lost my
mother in 2006, my father in 2007 and I also lost four of my
siblings. Now it’s only me and my two sisters left. I experienced
a lot of hardships that is why I decided to release my first
album,” said an almost tearful Peter. He was not discouraged, as in the middle of October this year
he tried his luck in music again and released a seven-track
rhumba-sungura album, Volume 2 “Nzveda-Nzveda”. Again, he
plays the lead guitar and is the lead singer. He is very optimistic
that this album would be a breakthrough in his quest to tread
in his hero’s footsteps. Easy Road to Fame, Johannesburg is marketing the album and Music of Africa is distributing it. Two songs on the album, the title track and “Zinyeke-Nyeke”
are in Shona while the others are in his mother tongue,
Shangani. Misava ya hela (the world is coming to an end) is the first song
on the album. “This song basically just says that the world is
coming to an end and preachers must preach the Word in truth
and they should let everyone know that the world is coming to
an end. It says, ‘we have seen all the signs that were written in
the Bible’.” Peter, who is now divorced, wrote “Nzveda-Nzveda” for his
then wife telling her how much he misses her, as he was living
in Johannesburg while she was in Zimbabwe. This song portrays how many married couples are living in
Zimbabwe; unfortunately, this has seen many marriages
breaking up, as is the case with Peter and his wife. “Van’hanyana vosaseka” is the third song on the album and it
means 'beautiful girls'. Peter explains, “The song is about a guy
who is looking for a girlfriend. In the song I am saying, ‘all the
girls who think they are beautiful raise your hands so that the
guy can choose’.” His separation with his wife led to another song, “Mama Rhiva”,
his son’s name is Rhivalelo and “Darlie”, a song about a wife
who starts behaving loosely, not like a married woman should,
coming home late and being disrespectful to her husband. “Zinyeke-Nyeke” also talks about an unhappy man in marriage
saying that he saw it even before he got married that his
marriage was not going to last. The song says that other
women protect their marriages with love, but this certain
woman is foolish and has no one to blame but herself for the
breakup of her marriage. Peter’s band is called Wendlati Sounds. “Wendlati means
lightning. My surname also means lightning or thunder so since
the two are related, I decided to call my band lightning, as I
didn’t like the idea of using my surname for the name of my
band,” explains Peter. With the right mentor to nurture his passion coupled with his
right attitude, Peter has potential to go places. He is planning some live shows in Johannesburg and Limpopo
and has performed in his hometown of Chiredzi. The sky is the limit for this young man inspired by the late
System Tazvida. His advice to aspiring and upcoming musicians is, “Never give
up, stay focused and reach for your dreams”. Could this be the
new king of Sungura in the making?