Sipho Makhabane thrills crowd at Barbourfields Stadium

SIPHO "Big Fish" Makhabane put up a flawless performance as he led a moving praise and worship session during the Bulawayo Peace Prayer at Barbourfields Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

So unblemished was his performance that the atmosphere in the stadium, where about 7 000 people had gathered, felt as if it was a church sermon rather than a gospel concert.

A fan said after the show: "Gospel music and praise and worship made easy. It was a wholesome performance and it left me blessed."

Makhabane took fans down memory lane with hits such as Yek' intokozo, Over and Over, and Ziyawa indonga ze Jericho.

As Makhabane went on stage at around 2pm the crowd that had gathered at the stadium reverberated into wild cheers for the South African gospel musician.

He began his performance with Alikho igama, a slow paced worship song whose message was that there is no name so precious as Jesus".

There were instances that he let the crowd sing along with him and as he did so Makhabane changed the song and sang, He Touched Me.

Makhabane then changed the song to another fan favourite, The Devil is a Liar, and gave a prayer for Zimbabwe for peace and prosperity.

After that he decided to bring in praise songs and began the session with, There is a race.

In the middle of the song, Makhabane got off stage and took a lap around the stadium with fans joining him. During his lap Makhabane would stop at different points and make the crowd clap and jump up and down as a way to warm up the fans.

Thereafter, Makhabane sang Yek' intokozo and the crowd could not help but sing along with him.
As he did so he changed to Over and Over.

Makhabane wrapped up his performance with popular gospel tune, We Worship You, and delivered a closing prayer for Zimbabwe.

Speaking after the show Makhabane said he was happy to be in the country and to pray for peace.

He said next week he would be in Harare to sing for peace and promised a wonderful performance.

"I am happy to be here in Zimbabwe and Bulawayo in particular to pray for peace, as this is very important. I will be in Harare on Friday until Saturday for another peace prayer," said Makhabane.

He said he had recently released a 12-track album called Big Fish Worship.

After his performance Baba na Mai Charamba went on stage and also blessed the crowd with their performances.

They began their performance with Africa and the crowd went into frenzy.

Baba na Mai Charamba went on to sing Ndirangarirei and other popular tracks.

The much awaited performance of Mkhululi Bhebhe from Joyous Celebration was cut short because of the crowd that had invaded the pitch and organisers had to send the crowd back to the stands.

Organisers cited an agreement with the city council that no one should be on the pitch during the concert. The reason was that there was a football match to be played yesterday and they feared people might damage the pitch.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, his deputy, Thokozani Khupe, Minister of State Enterprises and Parastatals Gorden Moyo and Bulawayo Deputy Mayor Councillor Amen Mpofu were among the dignitaries who attended the occasion.

Bishops took time to pray for the dignitaries.

The peace prayers were premised on Jeremiah 14 verse 13, which reads according to the King James Version, "Then I said I, Lord God! Behold the prophets say unto them, You shall not see the sword, neither shall you have famine, but I will give you peace in this place.