By Staff Reporter
SOUTH Africa based Zimbabwean songstress, Berita Khumalo, who recently performed at Ba.One at the Maseru Mall says she was humbled by the warm welcome that she received from the kingdom.
The musician travelled to the country as part of her Southern African tour that has already taken her to her home country Zimbabwe, Malawi, Swaziland, Botswana and a also a handful of shows in her country of residence, South Africa where she recently performed at the Macufe Festival among other shows.
Lesotho was the sixth country she has visited since the commencement of her tour.
Berita told the Weekender after her show that she was thrilled by the responses that she got when she was on stage.
“Lesotho is a country that I always knew that some people knew the music but not the person so this was my chance to make a first interaction with the people and it was an awesome experience,” Berita said.
“I really enjoyed the show. We put up a great show because I travelled with my band and my engineer so everything was on point.
“It was also a show where once I stepped onto the stage people started coming in until the venue was packed.”
When she stepped onto the stage around 11:30pm, the venue was barely half full but the revellers came in droves until 1am the next morning when she finished her set.
Berita said she was overwhelmed with the reviews that she got from the audience with some telling her that her show was the best they had attended in several years.
“I got some positive feedback from the audience. Some actually told me my set was the best they have witnessed in more than five years which is a huge vote of confidence,” Berita said.
With three albums namely Conquering Spirit (2012), Songs of empowerment (2015) and Berita (2017), the lass says the last lap of her Southern Africa tour will take her to Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia.
“This year has been much more about being on the road touring than new music for me since I also did an East Africa tour which took me to Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda in May. Now I am on the last part of the Southern Africa tour and will release new music early next year.
“The tours have been a special experience. I performed with Baba Tuku on two occasions in Botswana and Macufe then I shared the stage with him and Yvonne Chaka Chaka in Harare which was special. I also performed a rendition of Baba Oliver Mtukudzi’s timeless hit Neria which the crowd really enjoyed.
“I am also grateful to Concerts Music SA Mobility Fund who funded my Lesotho tour and will also fund the rest of the Southern Africa. They have really made our work much easier,” Berita said.
The lass said she is already keeping her fingers crossed so that she is part of the yet to be confirmed second edition of the Lesotho Times Fanfest whose date are yet to be announced.
“I had hoped to perform at the Lesotho Times Fanfest on 3 November 2018 but I take comfort in the fact that there is hope that the festival will be an annual event so I will definitely come back to Lesotho for the festival,” Berita said.
