Music is more than a way of life

THE first time I listened to Mbaqanga music, I never took it seriously and thought it can be a genre on its own to be identified as the best that could soothe and entertain someone’s soul. The bumpy panoptic rhythm sound that most listeners could respond serious by nodding their heads and mimicking the words, was only what I thought could have caused many to lose their heads to it, not knowing that there is much into it. The way of life, which most people around my village have been crying foul to have been lost to the western lifestyle is something I took lightly as I grew up. With age catching up with me, I started paying attention to most of the music played around by the youngsters’ that has melodious rhythm but with the vulgar message. At first, I thought since I am schooled, I should listen to western music, but inward my heart reminded me of Mbaqanga , which when my father played it in his car it gradually gave me a lilting spasm. I listened to Jazz music which had permeated to my heart and especially the rhythm of the saxophone which again the Mbaqanga musicians tempered around within most of their songs. With time as I was aging, the issue of culture started building heavily inside me and I could not ignore it any further. This was worsened by the absence of my father who passed on for more than a decade and what I could recall more than anything else was the music that he was attuned to. This takes me down the memory line where I could visualize seeing him with a simpering smile listening to the Mbaqanga music. The more I listened to this type of music the more I developed acknowledgment of who I am, and how I could brand myself in the twenty-first century. The message that I could get to the music of this type buddies me to my past, my father’s way of living, and also reminding me of my Nguni language as well as the way of life. I never thought this music can be danced around like any that I have listened to before, until the time I had to buy videos for Soul Brothers from across Limpopo. I enjoyed their smart, stylish dance in response to Mbaqanga music. They picked it slowly but with talent and could show-off out of their bodies. The fact that the message of most of their words are rich and filled with proverbs and idioms, as well as innuendoes that remind me of the novels I read before, is something I could not take lightly. Now, all seem to have been lost to the Mbaqanga music as I could hardly spend a day without spoiling my ears with its rhythm. The more I play it, the more genuine and could identify who I am, apart from allowing me to show off my prowse with the gyrating of my waist which seems to have surrendered some of its vibrant to the call of nature. With charm and confidence, I can openly share with anyone prepared to listen to my wisdom that music is the food for the soul that helps one to enhance the culture and first language. It soothes one’s soul and allows him to get his or her blood circulating while reminiscing the past that shapes the future. I wonder whether I could be sure who I am without the help of the music that also fills my head with wisdom and knowledge that many lacks, albeit being schooled in their areas of expertise. I wish if I can get the collection of the old Mbaqanga music so that I feed my soul with its lyrics at the same time appreciating the talent that no longer exists as the most talented artist left with their artistic talents

LOWER GWELO HOMESTEAD 2020

Social System Theory in Communication

Communication as an academic and professional field can be subjected to biological anatomy that seeks to explain how it can oil and liven up meaning-making processes in any given organization set up as it was propounded by the first German English speaking researcher in the twentieth century. One of the most innovative German sociologists Niklas Luhmann developed a distinctive and complex theory about the social, which stimulate research in various academic fields since the twentieth century. Luhmann's “social system theory” thrives on the concept of “outopoiesis” that translates to (self-production) which is rooted in the work of two Chilean Cognitive Biologists (Maturana and Verela 1980). Luhmann discovered that different elements of the system interact in such a manner to produce and reproduce the elements of the system. Just like the biological process through which cell reproduces its own elements like proteins, lipids, which are imported from outside to inside (Seidl and Schoeneborn 2010). This is in contrast to “allopoietic” systems, which is influenced by the external forces, “autopoietic systems” are operatively closed and no external forces enter in. This system of communication in the context of “autopoietic” is self-regulating and sustaining and this is equal to natural communication that is free from the pressures from outside. To Luhamann (1992) every communication selects WHAT is communicated for everything that could have been communicated. Luhamann (1992) defines “utterance” as the selection of a particular form and reason from all possible forms and reasons. With “Utterance” one needs to understand the reason for communication in the context of HOW and WHY something is being said. While on the other hand there is a need to understand “information” in any communication scenario as “selection of from a repertoire of possibility”. Therefore, effective communication needs to understand and distinguish between “UTTERANCE and INFORMATION”. Organizations as an “autopoietic system” should consider three issues that are society, face to face interaction and organization as these three mentioned factors reproduce themselves on the basis of communications. The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainability in the context of communication by an organization should consider the three factors as biochemical elements of thoughts. Society is the system that encompasses all communications that are produced and enable an environment to interact with an organization in a biological set up. However, Luhmann's theory of the social system is accused of its tendency to immunize against criticism. The epistemological value of social system theory as a whole in communication becomes a matter of viability, not correspondence with social reality. Secondly, Luhmann's approach is not empirically falsifiable whether it can inspire empirical studies at all. Vogal (2005) suggests that there is a need to combine social System Theory with reconstructive methodology in order to uncover the latency of the social system. It is of interest to read further and assess the validity of the social system theory and how it can benefit effective communication by organisations as they interact with society as well as other organisation.

Joshua Nkomo Academic Memorial Lecture held at Midlands State University

MIDLANDS State University (MSU) hosted the Joshua Nkomo Academic Memorial Lecture which was graced by the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Professor Amon Murwira. “Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo is one of the prolific African leaders from Matabeleland in Zimbabwe who deserve respect beyond the region and across the globe”, said Prof Amon Murwira in his speech. Dr. Nkomo was born in 1917 in Bukalanga or Bulilima in Matabeleland South and died on July 1999 in Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare due to prostate cancer, and was declared a National hero. Dr Nkomo was the founder and president of the National Democratic Party (NDP) in 1960, Zimbabwe African People’s Union party (ZAPU) in 1962. ZAPU fought along-side with Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) towards liberating Zimbabwe from colonial rule. He served as Vice president of Zimbabwe under ZANU PF lead by Robert Gabriel Mugabe from 1987 to 1999. Professor Ngonidzashe Victor Muzvidziwa, described Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo as an esteemed philosopher and rare specie. “The crown of man’s achievement is the love he displays”, said the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Professor Fanual Tarwireyi. The invited guest who delivered at the Joshua Nkomo Academic Memorial Lecture, Professor Sabelo Gatsheni Ndlovu from University of South Africa (UNISA) said our tertiary education sector in Zimbabwe is hampered by tribalism, sexism and greediness, which is what the late Dr Nkomo disliked. “Why should we remember Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo? He is a man who was being on fire for justice, who fought with consciousness to lift and empower others”, Prof Gatsheni revealed. “Corporate Universities that are run like corporate organisation, which recruits students in masses to generate profit disturbs the quality of our education and graduates, leading to access of education by the less intelligent but with money”, he said. Graduates should develop love for knowledge and not certificates and our universities and colleges should desist from massification and produce relevant knowledge that enable graduates to solve problems emanating from Africa using local langauge, he added. Professor Sabelo Gatsheni Ndlovu praised 5.0 approach introduced by Professor Murwira which encourage students to be innovative and to generate new ideas related to problems faced in Zimbabwe. “Our education have the crisis of being elitist that is accessible to those with money and segregating those intelligent from poor families”, Professor Gatsheni said

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This presentation was delivered at Midlands State University (MSU), 8th Social Science Seminar Series in 2009. The presentation gave a comparative assessment looking at the Practices and Approaches of Public Relations on Corporate Social Responsibility programs by Econet (Zimbabwe) and National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ).