Music and ecotourism is the focus of this week’s edition of African Voices Changemakers, a 30-minute magazine programme on Cable News Network, with the guests showcasing their commitment to youth development.
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African Voices Changemakers comes up on DSTV on Friday at 8.30 a.m. and on Saturday at 11.30 p.m., 4.30 p.m. and 7.30 p.m. Other repeat broadcasts will be aired on Sunday at 4.00 a.m., 8.30 a.m. and 7.30 p.m., with more repeats on Monday and Tuesday at 4.30 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. respectively.
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The programme parades three guests including Albert Ndereki, a Motswana, who deals with ecotourism under the aegis of Chobe Game Lodge, Zambia-born Mwila ‘Slapdee’ Musonda, generally regarded as one of the pioneers of Hip-hop in Zambia and the Vice Chairperson of Sea The Bigger Picture, Mogamat Shamier Magmoet from South Africa.
Ndereki was one of the builders of the Botswana game lodge in 1971 and remains one of the longest-serving members of the Botswana tourism industry. He is responsible for the management of the lodge and its massive facilities including a recycling plant where cans and glass bottles are crushed processed and transformed to building bricks and massive water-treatment plants amongst others.
Ndereki has a vast knowledge of his country’s tourism and this has earned the sobriquet ‘encyclopedia of Botswana Tourism’. Through his effort, young Motswana and others from the local communities have been successfully sensitized on the act of nurturing the environment.
Popularly known as Slapdee, Mwila Musonda was born in 1987 in Zambia. An orphan, he lived with his Auntie while growing up and attended schools in Zambia, Botswana, and South Africa. On returning to Zambia, he joined the high school from where his career in hip hop began.
With time his career blossomed and he released his debut album “Asembe Isebenza” in 2006, followed by four other studio albums, So Che, Black na White, True Story and The Business, in addition to several awards including the 2009 Ngoma Music Award for best hip-hop artist and the AFRIMM Award nomination(s) for Best Male (artiste) Southern Africa. He has also clinched nine Zambian Music awards for best male and hip-hop artiste and six Sun FM Kwacha Music Awards.
He later founded XYZ Entertainment, though which he has been promoting the growth of local talents in Zambia and also producing his albums.
Magmoet’s incursion into sea diving four years ago provided him with vital knwoledge about the threat that human beings pose to the ocean and its inhabitants. Speaking to African voices, he said, “I found out that billions of tons of waste and garbage end up in the oceans every year, and kill the marine and plant life,”
He subsequently developed the hobby of educating children in his locality on the beauty of underwater and how to take care of the ocean by fighting pollution.
According to Magmoet, “This way, these kids also get to see there is something better out there than gangs and crime. The aim is to spread awareness and love to protect our dying oceans and give many kids an opportunity for better future”. Through his effort, many South Africans have been successfully trained and enlightened on Sea diving.
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