Tashinga Mutakwa

On the 14th of January in 1992, I was a few months from my 3rd birthday. On this day my parents blessed me with a younger brother. They named him Tashinga Gerald Mutakwa. Life was never the same after that.

Tashinga seemed to have been born with a “I will go for what I want” attitude. The side-effect of this attitude is that he can be very frustrating if you ask him to do something he is not interested in. However that is a story for another day.

Every strength has its opposing weaknesses. Today I would like to talk about the young man’s strengths, which even as his older brother I have learnt from myself.

When Tashinga finished high school, despite pressure from multiple people to go and study something else, he stuck with his resolve and went on to study what he wanted. He studied what he had a passion in and enjoyed.

He completed his degree in Film Directing at the end of 2014. I remember watching the final year film he directed (Bala “Bullet”: A short film) and realising it was so good he had managed to silence anyone who ever questioned his choice of degree.

After completing his studies, while others went on to look for jobs Tashinga took his own path and started his own company. Its difficult enough to start your own company straight out of university and try generate enough income to survive at the same time. However I am proud of the work he has done in forming and growing Greenback Media Group. Showing all the young people out there that it is possible.

When I lived with him a few years back, he kept asking me to help him set up his company website. I was in a very busy phase at the time so I could not help him immediately. In a few days he had managed to read up how to set up a website, had registered a domain and built the company website by himself. Again I’m proud to say that without any of my help to this day he built, and maintains the Greeenback Media Group website. You can always achieve anything if you have enough of a drive to do so.

I could keep going. I am going to talk about one more thing. Something he is very proud of. About three years ago Tashinga envisioned hosting an event that created a platform for up and coming artists. He brainstormed the idea and drafted up a plan. He named the event Mother City Live.

The first Mother City Live event was hosted a couple of months later on a Thursday evening in a small sound bar in Long St, Cape Town. It was well attended, the performances were respectable and given Tashinga was still a student at the time, that first event can be considered a success. Everyone starts from somewhere.

I however could have never predicted that Tashinga would continue to push Mother City Live, see where he can improve the event and grow it further. I’m proud to say that this year’s edition of Mother City Live will be much bigger and better. Tashinga has managed to get over 30 acts lined up, with Jimmy Nevis being the headline performer. That sort of growth over a three year period is impressive. I’m inspired. The event is just over a week away on Saturday the 26th of November.

Having seen this idea from the start. I know Mother City Live is Tashinga’s baby and he has passionately pushed its growth to this stage. I am excited about this year’s event, but I am even more excited about how much more he can grow the event over the next few years. So if you are free on Saturday the 26th of November, please come and support the young man’s event.

Tickets are available on Webtickets here – https://www.webtickets.co.za/event.aspx?itemid=1465197345

More about the event can be found here – https://www.facebook.com/mothercitylive/

Keep going brother. We may be quiet from the outside, but we are excitedly and patiently watching how your story unfolds. I believe in you.

I’m still happy my parents blessed me with Tashinga Mutakwa on the 14th of January 1992.