Story by Owen Mandovha
SOUTH African-based Zimbabwean Musician Themba Ndlovu who is popular for the yesteryear hit song “Meet Me in Zimbabwe” is still going strong.
The song, “Meet Me in Zimbabwe” which was a popular and melodious hit on several radio stations and television was recorded in 1983 by Gweru-born globetrotting artist Themba Ndlovu.
Retracing the origin of the hit song, the veteran musician said it was the idea of his late Zulu wife whom he met in South Africa and was part of the musical trio, “The Children of Nandi”.
Ndlovu was recognised at the Zimbabwe Achievers Awards held in Johannesburg at the weekend where he revealed the song traces its origins from his late wife’s admiration of Zimbabwe.
“I was born in Gweru but in 1980 or 1981, I was part of the musical group called The Children of Nandi. There were 3 of us including my wife whom I started dating back then. She is the one who came up with the song whereas she mainly spoke about the beauty of my home country. I later recorded it in 1983 but my wife basically was the one who came up with the idea,” he said.
The music icon returned to South Africa in 2011 after several years in Europe where he worked in Germany, Greece and Switzerland.
“I’ve been working on various music projects since I came here to South Africa from Switzerland where I played with so many musical groups and all my 3 children have also become musicians,” added Ndlovu.
Besides the hit song “Meet Me in Zimbabwe”, Ndlovu is also known for other popular songs such as “VanaMai- Imi Munosara Nani”, “Lalelani”, “Release Mandela” and “Radio Africa”, among others.
He is currently working on some projects in South Africa and Zimbabwe.
