The “queen of the dance floor,” Beverly Sibanda, popularized the “sitting on the bottle” dance move, in which she spins around on top of an empty beer bottle, and this caused a stir.
Following the incident, the Censorship and Entertainments Control Unit, a regulatory body mandated to certify arts products ranging from cinema, dramas, theater, installations, exhibitions, billboards, and music among others, cancelled Bev’s certificate.
Bev, like many other performing artists, has not yet updated her certificate. She risks up to a year in jail if she continues to act without a Censorship and Entertainments Control Unit clearance certificate.
She comes across as the raunchy one on stage because to her scanty attire, amazing flexibility, and the trick of sitting on the bottle.
It is illegal to participate in, provide, or allow the provision of any public entertainment that has not been approved by the Censorship and Entertainments Control Unit, according to Section 16 (1) of Chapter 10.04 of the Censorship and Entertainments Control Act.
Anyone who violates any restriction or requirement set out in subsection (1) is guilty of an offense and subject to a fine not to exceed level 6, a term of imprisonment not to exceed one year, or both such fine and such imprisonment:
Each certificate comes with a list of requirements that artists must follow, such as wearing costumes and changing the lyrics they have written. Any violation is a crime.
This was revealed during a session organized by the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe on Tuesday in Harare with participation from the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, the Association of Music and Arts Promoters of Zimbabwe, the police, and the censorship unit.
The Censorship and Entertainments Control Unit, a regulatory body within the Ministry of Home Affairs, took the position of the Censorship Board.
Oscah Mugomeri, the deputy director of the Censorship and Entertainments Control Unit, advised Bev and a number of other musicians to visit their offices and renew their certificates.
Should I say fortunately for Bev, a lot of men liked what she did on stage and wanted to see more of her? So there were people who wanted her back and backed her, stating that she was a good entertainer,” he remarked.
“The legislation itself was drafted in 1967, when (Ian) Smith was in power, and pole dancing and stripping were commonplace at the time. So in order for her to perform, she must come to our offices and pay for the clearance certificate.
Interestingly, most artists were unwilling to pay or renew their certificates, according to Mugomeri, who said that the censorship unit only charged a small cost of RTGs2500.00 for the entire year.
When contacted for comment, Bev blamed the Covid-19 pandemic and spoke through her manager Harpers Mapimhidze, who is also the president of the Dancers Association of Zimbabwe.
“Yes, the CoVD0-19 pandemic’s disturbances prevented us from renewing the license. As you may be aware, Bev is not the only one of our members who has not paid for the clearance certificates, according to Harpers.
However, he stated that as soon as the sector opened up, they would call on their 45+ groups to go and renew certificates.
