BULAWAYO – Econet Zimbabwe is facing growing calls to cancel a performance by South African music duo Mafikizolo at this year’s Econet Victoria Falls Marathon, with critics arguing the booking is insensitive as Zimbabweans grapple with renewed anti-immigrant sentiment in South Africa.
The telecommunications giant announced that the award-winning duo would headline entertainment at the annual marathon, one of Zimbabwe’s biggest sporting and tourism events, attracting thousands of local and international participants.
But the announcement has triggered a social media storm, with musicians, activists and citizens questioning the decision at a time when videos and reports of Zimbabweans allegedly being harassed, forcibly removed from settlements and threatened with deportation in parts of South Africa have fuelled anger at home.
Musician Bruce Ncube, in an open letter addressed to Mafikizolo, said Zimbabweans did not blame the duo for accepting the booking but questioned Econet’s judgement.
“It feels wrong, it’s betrayal, it’s bad timing,” Ncube wrote.
“They should be showing solidarity with people who use their hard-earned money to keep them going in an almost non-existent economy.”
Opposition politician Fadzayi Mahere said bringing South African artists to Zimbabwe under the current circumstances was “a gross failure to read the room.”
“Our brothers, sisters, relatives and friends are squatting in the rain, choked by fear and in danger of losing their livelihoods,” she wrote on X.
“Now, more than ever, they need our solidarity.”
Several other social media users demanded that the concert be cancelled, arguing that Zimbabwean companies should not be spending scarce foreign currency on South African performers while many Zimbabweans living across the Limpopo were living in fear.
One user wrote: “Zimbabweans do not want South Africans anymore in Zimbabwe until they learn to respect Africans.”
Another said: “This Mafikizolo show has to be canceled.”
A third appealed directly to the duo not to travel to Zimbabwe, saying: “Our people are being tortured, killed, ridiculed and you want to sponsor them to celebrate what really? Please don’t come to Zimbabwe for now.”
Others defended Econet’s decision, arguing that artists should not be held responsible for the actions of xenophobic groups or political tensions between the two countries.
The latest controversy comes against the backdrop of worsening tensions between Zimbabwe and South Africa over the treatment of Zimbabwean migrants.
In recent weeks, anti-immigrant groups in South Africa have organised marches demanding tougher action against undocumented foreign nationals, culminating in a planned nationwide march on June 30.
The campaign has heightened fears among Zimbabweans living in South Africa, with videos circulating on social media showing raids and confrontations involving foreign nationals.
