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Brenda Phiri Entertainment Reporter
Popular Zimdancehall personalities Simbarashe “Godfatha Templeman” Maposa and Garry “Deejay GarryB” Chiwala have stepped up efforts in the fight against hooliganism in Zimdancehall through a campaign called Zimdancehall Jaming Against Misconception.Speaking on the sidelines of the recent launch of “Mad Level” riddim in Mbare that was characterised by violence, Templeman said it was  high time professionalism prevailed in the trade.

“We have been talking about this for the past two years and we intensified the campaign last week following bad scenes at the Kalado show. The menace has now reached extreme levels,” he said.

Templeman advised promoters to respect the revellers that part with their hard-earned money to attend shows, only to be short changed because of disorganisation. He however said there was no justification for rowdy behaviour hence the involvement of the police in the campaign. He said they were currently working towards encouraging promoters to sell beverages in plastic cups instead of bottles and cans.

He expressed optimism on the success of the campaign saying it was possible to completely phase out the act if efforts of stakeholders in the entertainment industry are collective.

“Let us all cooperate and be professional in order to put an end to such incidents. The promoters should not take the fans for granted, the artistes need to conduct themselves professionally and fans should express their disappointment in appropriate ways. The police will also be engaged so that they may actively complement our efforts,” he said

The popular em cee also spoke of the controversial Kalado attack saying it was unfortunate incident that tarnishes the country’s reputation world wide. He said the promoters, Digital One, could have avoided  the incident.

“On the recent attack of  Jamaican artiste Kalado, the blame rests entirely on that show promoter. If he knew that the artiste had three hit songs that are known locally, why then did they invite him to perform at a show for an hour. They should  have made him a special guest and have him perform for maybe 20 minutes, giving room for local acts instead of agitating the fans and creating room for the unfortunate episode,” he said.

The campaign is also roping in artistes who are being encouraged to speak against divisions in the genre as they are also promoting violent camps

“We are currently working on two riddims; ‘Can Out’ and ‘Can Down’, that we want artistes to ride on. Their message is supposed to denounce those stage attacks,” he said.