By Jonathan Mbiriyamveka
HARARE — One of Southern Africa’s most decorated gospel artists has delivered a blunt critique of Zimbabwe’s gospel industry, warning that artists are pursuing prestige venues before they have built anything worth staging.
Minister Everton Mlalazi, keynote speaker at a free Music & Ministry Seminar themed “The Business Side of Gospel Music,” told an audience at ZimParks HQ that gospel artists’ obsession with venues like the Harare International Conference Centre and 7 Arts Theatre was undermining its own development.
His remarks came during a panel discussion hosted by Harare City Centre SDA Church’s Marketplace for the Master initiative, which brought together figures from across the industry’s commercial and creative spectrum.
Mlalazi singled out Radiance Acapella for praise — not for a performance at a flagship venue, but for a concert staged in Kambuzuma.
“I love something that I saw — I don’t know if I’ve not seen anyone from Radiance Acapella, is there anyone? Yeah, I see. I love something that they did recently,” Mlalazi said.
“I saw them doing a concert in Kambuzuma. It was lovely.”
He contrasted that choice with the industry’s prevailing instinct.
“What we have now done is that we have now become people who want to go into the big stage, because that’s where the lights are, but the people are also there in Kambuzuma,” he said.
The observation drew on a broader argument about where gospel audiences actually live — and where sustainable careers are built.
The Glenora model
Mlalazi offered a concrete alternative: consistency in a single community over several years.
“Imagine if you are doing something in Glenora, every year, you are doing this show that you are doing,” he said.
“Imagine if you are doing this thing every year — trust me, in the third, fourth year, you will have people saying, we want to support you.”
The timeline is deliberate. Mlalazi’s argument is that sponsorship follows demonstrated commitment, not ambition.
An artist who stages the same show in the same place for three or four consecutive years produces something a sponsor can see, evaluate and back. An artist who attempts a single flagship event produces only a risk.
“You are deciding to hit above your own weight”
He was direct about the consequences of skipping that process.
“It’s not going to happen,” he said. “Are you with me? It’s not going to happen, because you are deciding to hit above your own weight.”
The phrase captures the core of his critique: that many artists are attempting careers at a scale their current foundations cannot support.
He was careful to frame the point as encouragement rather than condemnation.
“I am saying these things, not because I want anyone to feel low down in the corner, but I’m saying these things, because I want you to realise…”
The David analogy
To ground the argument, Mlalazi turned to scripture — the story of David, anointed for kingship but returned to herding cattle.
“David understood that whilst he had been anointed for kingship, he still had to… Do you know that even after he was anointed for kingship, he went back to herd cattle?” he said.
The implication is theological as much as professional: anointing does not exempt anyone from apprenticeship.
The period between calling and coronation is not wasted time — it is the formation that makes the calling survivable.
He applied the same logic to comparisons with established figures.
“Sometimes we want everything — Pastor G. Pastor G. has many years in ministry. How can I want to be like him already yesterday? It’s impossible.”
And to the panel’s own chair.
“I can’t be Minister Mahendere over 30 years,” he said, referencing gospel artist Michael Mahendere. “I would throw a tea jar at you.”
A call for evidence
Minister Mlalazi also made a practical offer, conditional on gospel artists producing a documented record of sustained work.
“If you come to my office and you show me pictures, and clips and whatever, of what you’ve been doing over the years, I can surely direct you — maybe they may be interested in what you are talking about,” he said.
The condition is the point. Mlalazi is not offering to find sponsors for gospel artists with ambition. He is offering to connect artists who can demonstrate years of consistency.
Why it matters
The seminar’s stated purpose was to confront the business realities of gospel music. The panel’s agenda included royalties, rights, branding, airplay, streaming, contracts, bookings and running a ministry like a business.
Minister Mlalazi’s contribution addressed the foundation beneath all of it: whether an artist has built something worth monetising.
His argument suggests that many of the industry’s financial problems begin before the first contract, in a culture that prizes visibility over longevity.
The seminar was streamed live on Facebook and YouTube and supported by the Centre of Hope and other partners.
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