ON a chilly Sunday morning of June 24, 1984 a voice, supposedly from God stretched to an OK supermarket employee on duty. The word was clear, ‘Today you are quitting your job of 15 years and start ministering for the Lord’.
The word further instructed her to quit music and acting
which had brought her fame in the then Rhodesia.
“It was scary when I heard the voice talk to me and the
person in me. It was an experience that I had never had before as I was used to
my way of life that revolved around acting and music,” she said.
That was to be the end of Susan Chenjerai’s arts career
which spanned two decades as she went into ministering and subsequently
marrying a cleric Lovemore Mobate.
Known for her role as Mai Rwizi in sitcom Mhuri
YekwaMukadota, Chenjerai and her husband Mukadota, real name Safirio
Madzikatire became real life caricature of both characters and made their roles
look real, up until today.
Mai Rwizi played a calm, respectful wife to a notorious
Mukadota. Mukadota would wreak havoc in the community and still get away with
it through the support he received from his wife.
Her acting career began in 1951 as a member of the Bantu
actors, a group of artistes from Mbare that started in 1936. She later joined
the Marandellas Bush Babies in 1958.
Madzikatire approached Chenjerai and persuaded her to join
his band in 1969, after listening to her singing in the Majubeki area of Mbare.
They released several hit songs before coming up with scripts for the Mukadota
series, which marked the beginning of her acting journey.
“When I quit the arts, Madzikatire welcomed my decision and
supported my new venture and way of life.
"By July I was free from everything, my daily job and
acting. I then took up ministering with my husband who was a pastor,” she said.
Chenjerai was saved in 1970 and married to a pastor. She
and her husband started preaching, from the day she received a calling and quit
her job she dedicated her life to ministry. She and her late husband headed the
New Gospel Church of God.
Currently she is the leader of the church with branches in
Banket, Mozambique, Mbare, Mutorashanga, Centenary and South Africa.
Chenjerai described her days in the arts industry as
worldly and ‘dark’ days.
“Life in the acting and music industry was scary. If I am
to give a testimony of my life you will know that God surely loves me and he
took me out of darkness and I will never go back there,” she said.
“I am a new creature now and I thank God that I quit on
time. By now, maybe I would have died earlier with others,” she said.
All her church branches are using rented premises and she
is appealing for help from well-wishers to acquire a permanent home.
Chenjerai revealed that she never gained anything
materialistic throughout her 20-year acting career despite filling up venues
with Madzikatire’s band and also producing a hit sitcom that took the small
screen by storm.
“We used to fill up venues, but I had nothing to show from my arts career yet my fellow artists
have houses and cars whilst I own nothing," she said.
“Madzikatire grew up here (Mbare) but later relocated to
Cranborne.
“All the benefits of the music and acting we made together
were channelled to his family. I didn’t get anything.
“I was left without even a car while his children own
houses and the house I live in now is my husband’s.”
Chenjerai was more than an actress and musician. She is the
one behind the hit song KwaHunyani which was later performed by Madzikatire and
Katarina.
“I am the one who wrote the song KwaHunyani which later was
recorded and performed by Madzikatire and Katarina,” she said.
“I am also behind the song (Vana Mai Vanofara)…………… which
was performed by Thomas Mapfumo.
“There are many songs that I composed, but were taken up by
other artistes and went on to be hit songs.”
The 82-year-old said she does not regret anything, but
thank God for saving her from the
‘world’. She has five surviving children and 65 grandchildren. Standard
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