Afro-jazz musician, Dudu Manhenga, who was sent to prison
in 2013 after being convicted for negligent driving and causing the death of
motorcyclist Graham Martin Millward in 2010, has opened up about her
experience.
She was handed down an 18-month jail term that was quashed
a year later by Justices Francis Bere and Charles Hungwe, who said the penalty
was too harsh and instead, slapped her with a wholly suspended sentence for the
offence after establishing that the accident was not due to “gross” negligence.
Speaking out about the incident for the first time in five
years, Dudu who has been keeping a low profile since her release from prison,
said she had taken a break from the limelight to focus on her family.
Chatting with Sokostina on Zimpapers Capitalk FM on the
Inspired show earlier this week, Dudu said she was glad that she had recovered
from the whole incident.
“The first step to recovering is to accept what has
happened. I thank God I’ve always been the sort of person who quickly accepts
things. This accident had happened in 2010 and in 2013 when everything was
coming out, I was thinking ‘may this thing end already’.
“I prepared for the worst and there were so many
disturbances in my life during that period,” she said.
And when she was convicted, Dudu said though saddened, she
felt relieved as it had become annoying being in and out of court and having
the police on her case. Turning to her time in prison, Dudu said she did not
feel at home.
“If I was to write a book about my experience in prison,
the title would be, Not home, not hell. For me, being in prison was sort of a
relief as I was like ‘finally, I can get this behind me because this case had
hung over our family for a long time, the court procedures and all.
“It became more prison being out of prison than being in
there.” She said she met amazing women in prison whom she would
always remember.
“These women changed my perception of life because of the
conversations we had while sitting under the shade. Some shared their plans to
better themselves which were all inspiring.”
But in all this, Dudu blamed the community for being
judgmental. “While in prison, I discovered that no matter what a person
has done, there are some people who are in prison but are not supposed to be
there. So people there need care and love and families shouldn’t abandon them
as their time there is supposed to be correctional.
“The stigma against them shouldn’t be condoned,” said Dudu.
On her part, Dudu said corporates she used to work closely
with abandoned her when she got out of jail as they cancelled her contracts
despite her efforts to assure them that her voice was still in tune.
“Some company I worked with refused to go on with my
contract when I left prison as they didn’t want to associate with me. But
people need to know that someone who has served their time in prison has
already gone through so much trauma and deserves a second chance,” she said.
She said when she attends some events now, she first breaks
the ice by mentioning her prison encounter so that people stop looking at her
in a queer manner.
Dudu, however, said her imprisonment for driving with a
provisional driver’s licence and running over a person, had impacted society
positively.
“Whatever it was, had its benefits as some woman I met said
she had changed her behaviour on the road and vowed not to drive with a
provisional driver’s licence because she learnt it’s illegal after following my
case. This was because she had seen her role model go down.
“I looked back and realised so many lives were saved after
that incident.”
On her decision to lie low after the prison encounter, Dudu
who has four children, said she wanted to reprioritise things that matter to
her and spend more time with her children.
“I thought to myself, if my children were to write a book
about their mum, would it be the same as the public’s that will write good
stuff about this great woman and all they’ll do is complain that they never had
a mum as they rarely ever saw me.
“So, I took time to help my children heal and find their
own space with their mum and assure them that mum is here. I needed to be close
to family members as some times we run so fast and even run past goals we’ve
set.”
Prior to being jailed, Dudu, who is now a pastor, had
started attending Bible school.
“I was doing my first year in 2013 when I went to jail.
When I was released, I completed my studies and graduated in 2015 and have been
serving as a pastor for the past two years.
Turning to her music career, the artiste who was born in
Bulawayo said she would not be releasing an album anytime soon though she has
composed a lot of songs.
“Recording costs a lot of money so for now, my focus is on
mentoring and producing other artistes songs, especially those from my church.
I’ve composed a couple of tracks but just haven’t had time to record an album,”
Dudu said.
Other than music, Dudu has released an anthology of poems
where she speaks about a number of things including her jail experience and the
dynamics in her family.
On the head gear, which she has become synonymous for with
some fans believing that she is dreadlocked like Winky D, Dudu said it was
tailor made by her mother when she was young, not knowing it would become part
of her brand.
“We had this big show happening in Bulawayo with regional
artistes performing. The likes of Percy Phakela, Lovemore Majaivana and Busi
Ncube were on the lineup and I was at high school then. I had ‘cooked hair’ so
I thought to myself, ‘how will I stand there and be the person I want to be’.
“So, I went and bought this doily top which I felt wouldn’t
look good with cooked hair so my mum and I decided to reproduce that Matabele
hat they wear in SA like Brenda Fassie’s. But, we didn’t have the money so we
bought a woollen hat and stuffed it with some cloth and I wore it. We also
bought a metre of cloth and put it on top of the hat to accessorise it.
“When I went on stage, the MC said ‘here’s a young lady who
has embraced being African’ and I loved the compliment. The next time I went on
stage without the gear, I didn’t get that powerful introduction and it was as
if I was a totally different person so each time I wore it, I felt beautiful as
I’d get encouraging compliments. At home, I was never described as the
beautiful one so this for me was a major endorsement of my beauty.”
Since then, Dudu has been donning the head gear when
performing though she does not move around with it while conducting her day to
day activities.
“When off stage, I don’t wear the head gear as it allows me
to go through my duties as a normal person. Some think I’m dreadlocked so when
they see me without the head gear in public, I can tell they don’t recognise me
and I like it that way.” Chronicle
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