Pearl Thusi, Sonia Mbele and Sello Maake kaNcube under fire over Zimbabwean tour

News24

• Pearl Thusi, Sonia Mbele, and Sello Maake kaNcube face criticism for participating in an ongoing tour of Zimbabwe.
• According to a Zimbabwean publication, the tour is a “massive frenetic public relations image-building tour” by the country’s ruling party Zanu-PF and President Emmerson Mnangagwa to “revamp its battered reputation” before the elections.
• The contingent comprises of celebs and others from Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Lesotho, Namibia, Botswana, Eswatini, Tanzania and South Africa.

Media personalities Pearl Thusi, Sonia Mbele and Sello Maake kaNcube have come under fire on social media for participating in a tour of neighbouring Zimbabwe in the lead-up to the country’s national elections later this month.

The country heads to the polling stations on 23 August to elect a new president and members of both houses of Parliament.

Leading Zimbabwean news outlet, The News Hawks, shared the news on social media. Per the outlet, the trip is a “massive frenetic public relations image-building tour” by the country’s ruling party Zanu-PF and President Emmerson Mnangagwa to “revamp its battered reputation” ahead of the elections.

“As a result of this, millions of Zimbabweans have fled to some of the countries where the journalists are coming from, especially Botswana and South Africa, running away from brutal political repression, economic collapse and human rights abuses,” the publication wrote. “Mnangagwa’s government, an authoritarian continuation of the late former president Robert Mugabe’s repressive regime, has a disastrous human rights and economic management record.”

A group of African Journalists and Media Personalities from the region arrived in Zimbabwe yesterday for what has been dubbed “THE TRUE ZIMBABWE TOUR”. They have been brought in by @InfoMinZW working together with the Media Company MPC. They are from Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique,… pic.twitter.com/rpIsxpWm3W

— Nick Mangwana (@nickmangwana) August 8, 2023

Announcing the ‘True Zimbabwe Tour’ on social media, the country’s permanent secretary for the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Nick Mangwana, said the local celebrities and journalists arrived earlier this week.

“They have been brought in by @InfoMinZW working together with the media company MPC,” he wrote.

The contingent comprises celebs and journalists from Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Lesotho, Namibia, Botswana, Eswatini, Tanzania and South Africa.

“They are here to experience the hospitality of our people and to see for themselves the great work done by the second republic in the last five years,” he continued.

The tour wraps up on Saturday, 12 August, with the guests expected to visit successful farming projects, the African Chrome Fields mining operations, the new wing of the Robert Mugabe International Airport and more.

The Zimbabwean government has roped in journalists from across the region – Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania and South Africa – on massive and frenetic public relations and image-building tour to revamp its battered reputation ahead of… pic.twitter.com/2Gw8B8PDWz

— TheNewsHawks (@NewsHawksLive) August 8, 2023

The criticism of the local celebs stems from both their involvement in the tour and their outspokenness on various matters in the past.

Thusi has publicly criticised the Zimbabwean government’s treatment of its citizens. Maake kaNcube, on the other hand, has been vocal about his feelings about South Africa’s ruling party, the ANC, and how he believes its government has let the people of South Africa down; Mbele openly criticised the government as she expressed her frustrations about load shedding.

In response to News24, Maake kaNcube said: “Anybody’s opinion of me is not my reality. As much as I’m a public figure, I have a right of freedom of association.”

He added that Zimbabwe is a country that is owned by its citizens.

Spokesperson for Sonia Mbele Films Thato Malindi told News24 Mbele was in the neighbouring country to represent the company after being invited by Zimbabwe’s “elite business moguls to discuss rebuilding the country’s entertainment industry” as she has reportedly been “tipped to spearhead” its “entertainment evolution”.

“As Sonia Mbele Films, we would like to make it clear that our CEO is an intercontinental and international producer who takes her craft very seriously,” Malindi said.

He added that they also worked with other African countries, namely Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia and Zimbabwe, where they worked with music producers, shot a reality show, content and a “first of its kind” telenovela.

“We saw a gap when it comes to the lack of continental content and opted to be the company that crosses boundaries, minus the politics,” Malindi said. “Similarly, Zimbabwe is transforming, and they now need to transform their TV and film production; hence we are here.”