Soundtrack Plot Mhako
SECURITY at a live concert is one area in showbiz that
often times gets overlooked and always comes in as an extra, yet it plays a
very critical part in event planning and execution in the industry as a whole.
The eyes of every organiser, artiste, host or promoter are
usually fixed on the numbers and what happens on stage, but the entire business
falls apart if the entry points are porous, corrupt and poorly administered.
In the corridors of showbiz there have always been whispers
as people skirt around the issue, but what happened at the Madirirano event at
Takashinga Cricket
Grounds in Highfield, Harare on Saturday night amplified
the conversation and challenged the industry to act.
Madirirano concert is the brainchild of Simbarashe Malvern
Chakare, popularly known as Bodyslam, one of the local leading music promoters
who got inspired by a
sharing culture by women from his neighbourhood of
Highfield who take turns to buy each other groceries and other wares.
The brilliant concept saw him and his team setting up a
very ambitious, but soon to be very successful and one of the most sought-after
event in the country
that always attracts a huge attendance and a top notch
line-up of artistes.
While the event has outgrown the Takashinga Cricket
Grounds, posing a strain on crowd control and security management, the
organising team on Saturday was very
alert to the growing demands and beefed up security.
Sadly, the security personnel known as “Mamonya” got
compromised, leading to the promoter opening the gates for people to enter
freely, prejudicing the event
of thousands of dollars in investment and potential
revenue.
The next morning, we woke up to a social media Facebook
message from a disturbed Bodyslam signalling that as a result of the fiasco,
there could be no more
Madirirano.
“This is our last Madirirano show. We are stopping, the
main reason being the venue can’t contain the numbers and traffic; it’s now too
small. Security wise we
can’t hold the pressure, we are vulnerable,” he said.
“This was the best event in the making, but the security
bouncers ruined it. No one to protect the industry, I give up. We invested big
money and I am hurt and saddened, so we retire. We also blame the fans who come
to the event with the mind-set to rob the promoter by promoting bouncers who
rip us off. Thank you all
for the love and support. No more Madirirano!”
The message sent the entire arts industry into alarm and
panic. It was a wake-up call that opened a Pandora’s box on shenanigans made by
security personnel
manning events.
Is this truly the end of Madirirano? How many other great
events and projects went under due to the same reasons?
Some promoters have vanished off the radar and never got a
chance to speak out, some fell at a time when there was no social media and
their stories remain
untold.
For the benefit of those not in the know and possibly have
participated in the robbery unknowingly, public events such as arts concerts
and festivals are
required by law to get police clearance and enlist the
services of security details to ensure safety, order and security for the
venue, artistes, patrons and property.
In the past, most promoters would hire the police to
provide security and this comes at a fee depending on the number of officers,
dogs or any other
requirements. Slowly some promoters started opting for
private security companies and bouncers to secure their events and help with
the ticketing process.
Sadly, some of the hired private security details have seen
this as an opportunity to milk the promoter or the artiste. They develop
well-thought schemes to
resell tickets, admit people who pay them less than the advertised
fee, manipulate the security and at times go home with much more than the
promoter.
The bouncers often work in syndicates with a group of con
artists who collaborate in the sale of fake tickets, resell or illicit
admission fees.
At a recent album launch in the capital, it was alleged
that bouncers would make it difficult for even patrons with tickets to enter
the venue, a situation
that gave room for thieves to rob patrons.
Well, a look back into 2009 reminds many showbiz followers
of the biggest show to be ever staged in Zimbabwe in the new millennium. This
was the Akon and Sean
Paul concert that was held on September 4 at the giant
National Sports Stadium courtesy of the late Prince Tendai Mupfurutsa.
Sadly, the highly ambitious project later allegedly claimed
the life of the artiste-cum-promoter. The highly subscribed event left him
counting huge losses following a security breach at the venue.
Afterwards, Mupfurutsa fell sick and never recovered from
the loss.
I personally experienced this when I entered showbiz in
2007 after hosting a fully packed Jibilika Festival at 7 Arts Theatre in
Avondale, Harare only to later
realise that the coffers were empty.
The security team had harvested where they did not sow. Two
years later it was the ticket-printing company that ripped us as they printed
extra tickets and
sold on the black market. We made a police report, but
never recovered the money.
In April last year, there was another incident at the
Davido concert at Harare International Conference Centre where six unassigned
bouncers attacked security
personnel who were in charge of the gates to gain free
access. In the process, they left one badly injured and paved the way for hundreds
of revellers to enter
for free, fleecing the promoter.
What could be the problem and how can we fix it?
Zimdancehall awards founder and promoter Phinias Mushayi
believes the biggest challenge is allowing security staff to do the accounting
work.
“The moment we allow security to touch event tickets, we
then create a loophole. What would be more prudent will be to have crowd
control measures that allow
for at least double checks before someone enters the show,”
he said.
“It is always disheartening to see someone’s investment go
to waste and I feel for Simba. It was out of genuine love to uplift artistes
and provide much-needed entertainment for the Highfield community and beyond.”
Filmmaker and artiste manager Elton Mjanana believes there
is need to move away from entrusting bouncers “Mamonya” with ticketing duties
in these tough times.
“Zimbabwe has a version of South African Computicket and
this can be deterrent if implemented well. Imagine selling only advance tickets
at a cheaper rate and
the tickets on the day at a slightly higher rate or even
saying no tickets sold on the day of the show as is done in other places,” he
suggested.
A Mutare promoter John “Baba Andile” Mujamba, however,
thinks otherwise.
“It would be easy to have advance tickets if the economy
was stable. Imagine advertising a show for August in January charging $10, yet
you can’t invest that
money in any reasonable venture to retain its value till
the day of the show,” he said.
“The system is forcing us to be money launderers. In soccer
they have the same challenges. At the end of the day, despite the economy, the
blame lies squarely
on the policymakers in the relevant departments to help
protect promoters, artistes, revellers and entertainment entrepreneurs.”
This whole fiasco brings into focus the lack of
infrastructure that is designed for concerts.
There has not been much development of new venues with some
of the few available traditional venues becoming more expensive and less viable
for promoters, artistes and failing to transform to the changing entertainment
culture, forcing event hosts to resort to porous venues that expose them to
risk the security
of the audience, technical services providers and the
proprietor.
Gospel music promoter and events specialist Tapfuma
Chikosha said promoters should be ready to invest in modern technologies that
help plug leakages in the
system.
“I think there is need for introduction of a new and safer
way of ticketing for most events. So we could start with doing three-point
security checks and then
increasing perimeter barricading and also get a
professional company to handle security,” he said.
“Also these venues need to be spruced up to be able to host
these types of events. You will notice that in Zimbabwe we don’t have any
venues that are tailor-made for events and this creates a huge problem for
event organisers.”
South Africa-based researcher and avid arts commentator
Norman Mafuratidze said sentiments by Chakare are evidence of a common
industry-wide undercurrent
which may have been undertowing the sector for some time.
“With an efficient advance ticketing system, a rethink on
pricing and tightening of regulation, this porosity can be plugged. For future
accountability, there
is need for regulation and training of bouncers along
security industry guidelines,” he said.
“In other countries, such programmes have been deployed to
confer bouncers with more patron-centered skills to perform their roles. This
endows them with
content around customer service values, de-escalation of
conflict techniques, appropriate searching methods, drug and alcohol awareness,
basic civil and
criminal law, health and safety at events, and emergency
evacuation management.”
Mafuratidze believes there is need for multi-stakeholder
platforms to capture the voices, perceptions and experiences of players where
discussions around reforms on current practices can be tabled.
Veteran dancehall wheelspinner and club promoter Regoman
Magama believes that promoters are applying shortcuts and cost-cutting
measures, being unprofessional and under-paying people, a development which has
compromised events.
“Artistes and promoters should pay people and work with
registered security companies, the police rather than trying to cut costs. A
lot of handlers during events never get paid and some will find ways to
unfortunately reap from the event,” he said.
“The industry players must do proper signed contracts so
that it is easy to seek legal recourse and also blacklist those who have
malpractices.”
In view of the above sentiments, one thing that sticks out
is, we need dialogue as industry players, to create systems that will sustain
the business and promote the arts industry. My hope and prayer is Madirirano
continues and grows to be our great home-grown festival. Until next time, the
plot thickens. Newsday
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