THE widow to the late Smoko music pioneer System Tazvida, Barbara Mabuyaye, yesterday expressed gratitude to medical practitioner and music promoter Johannes Marisa for his efforts to revive Smoko music. BY FREEMAN MAKOPA Mabuyaye, who said she was still grieving for her late husband 21 years after his death, has been living off her entrepreneurial endeavours. “I sell network marketing products, perfumes, watches and handbags. After my husband passed on, I eked a living by purchasing my products from Tanzania, but nowadays, I just buy things online. I used to run a flea market, but because of high costs of rentals, I have since dropped it,” she said. She said although her husband was the originator of what became known as Smoko music, the copycats it attracted over the years, did not give her sleepless nights. “My husband was my pillar of strength and the one thing I learnt from him was that he was unfazed by copycats. He used to say when people copy your music, then you know you have grown musically,” she said. Marisa has been assisting struggling musicians as well as widows of departed top artistes, employing some of them as general workers at his surgery while others receive free medical care whenever need arises. Mabuyaye said Marisa was paying for studio recording time as the band no longer has any instruments of its own.
