Hundreds of fans went home disappointed after most of the local musicians who were featured in the Nyelisani Sidimela Fundraising Festival line-up at Makonde Shopping Complex, Bulini Hall, did not turn up on Saturday.

Artists from Gauteng dominated the festival, with little support from the locals. Prominent artists who were in the lineup but did not pitch up include Shufflers Ragimana, Jonah Moyo, Zozo and Sengere Super Beat, Kenny Murabi and Mutendas.

Most of the disappointed fans who spoke to Mirror said they were not happy because they believe they were given a raw deal by the artists.

Fans kept on shouting “Shufflers, Shufflers” until the wee hours of Sunday, but their idol was nowhere to be seen. Shufflers became an instant hero with his song Shango lo vhifha muvhilini, which strongly condemns ritual murder and witchcraft, released last year. Since the theme of the festival was against ritual murder, most of the disappointed people were eager to see him performing the song live.

In a telephonic interview with Mirror, Shufflers said he did not take part in the festival because the organizers did not consult him. He said he was surprised to see his name on the placards while nobody had spoken to him about the concert. “I was never consulted about the concert. My name was exploited because it was used without my knowledge. Furthermore, my name was not correctly spelt, which shows that the organizers of the show did not consult me. There is no reason why I can decline to take part in the fundraising because I strongly condemn the act of ritual murder. Nyelisani is my sister and we live at the same village, so I can’t act irresponsibly by not supporting her trust fund. It is now time to respect artists and restore their dignity because they are also people whose rights must be respected. I have no problem with playing in the concert, as long as I’m properly consulted and respected…”

The organizer of the festival, Tshilidzi Raedani, said there might have been a communication breakdown with some of the artists during the preparations for the event. With specific reference to Shufflers, Tshilidzi said he delegated some community structures to approach Shufflers about the show. “Maybe there is somebody who did not do his job, but I apologize to Shufflers if he was embarrassed by the whole incident...”