MR Walter Magaya has clearly mastered the art of marketing. His publicists certainly deserve an Oscar. The man of God has ridden on the popularity of a protesting hoarse TB Joshua. He has danced with Henrietta Rushwaya, the Zimbabwe Football Association and our beloved Warriors. Mr Magaya has warmly embraced Bev, Zindoga revellers and Macheso. Yet in another breath he has castigated Mapositori and Zvigure, in the latter in cruel gratitude to Cheso support. My first encounter with Zvigure or Zvinyawo was in the mid-1970’s in the then Harari Township. I was fascinated by their dances and masks, but kept away from close view by terrifying stories about Zvigure’s propensity for physical violence. Later we heard stories of kidnappings, sexual orgies, murders and monetary extortions. Naturally I grew intense dislike for this community’s alleged wanton disregard for the law. With age comes wisdom. I now know a bit more about Zvigure/Zvinyawo. I am now able to separate the truth from xenophobic prejudices. The Zvigure/Zvinyawo, like many other cultural or religious groupings, is not short of bad company. In the Church they have their match in Madzibaba Ishmael and his congregants. When it comes to moments of weaknesses, yes you will find the occasional Gumbura. With regards to economic affairs, there will be a little Makandiwa, Magaya and Angel here and there. People may be induced to freely seed earthly possessions for salvation, but the adage; ‘do no throw the baby with the bath water’ holds true. Zvigure/Zvinyawo, like Christianity, has a role to play in our spiritual and cultural being. While Mapositori and Zvigure are easy punching bags for Mr Magaya, you hardly see such attacks against Judaism, Islam and Hindu. Could Mr Magaya be deliberately targeting African roots? That would be a great shame. The Gule Wamkulu (Zvigure) (Great Dance), like our own Mbende/Jerusarema, is a fertility dance celebrating propagation. It is the greatest and longest dance of the Nyau. The dance is cherished and sacred to the hearts of the Chewa people of Malawi. It is a symbolic, religious masked dance performed by the Nyau (Zvinyau) society at various occasions such as funerals, weddings, installation of traditional chiefs and authority, initiations as well as ceremonies of local or national proportion. Nyau is the presence of the dead, an encounter with a spirit and so it is associated with fear and ritual dread.   There are a variety of masks symbolising different spirits or aspects of life such as fertility or death.   The Chewa people, like most Bantu, believe that life exists within their ancestors and those not yet born, as well as the living. The Nyau beliefs include communication with those who are dead, or their spirits, calling this act pemphero lalikulu (Great Prayer). The spirit world’s symbolism is presented at the Gule Wamkulu (Big Dance), which incorporates mwambo (traditions), masks, song, dance and rules. Nyau has been misunderstood and misrepresented by others, including the Christian church. Our own Mbende suffered similar fate and had to be masked as a Christian activity, Jerusarema. There is no consensus on the antiquity of Gule Wamkulu. A first millennium AD cave painting from what is now DRC depicts what looks like a Kasiya Maliro, a type of Nyau mask. This link is reinforced by local mythologies that claim Nyau came from Malomba, a place in what is now the DRC. By the time of 19th century Ngoni invasions, Gule Wamkulu was well established among the Chewa. We can only speculate on the role it may have played in the great Chewa Empire of the 17th century. An accurate history of Gule Wamkulu has remained elusive due to the secretive nature of the practice. Heavy penalties, including death, have been meted on initiates that break the secrecy vows. Nyau rituals have found accommodation in areas dominated by Shonas and Ndebeles of Malawian ancestry like farming zones, mining towns and Mabvuku, Highfield and Tafara suburbs. In 2005, Gule Wamkulu, the Great Dance of the Chewa people of Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, was among the 90 elements proclaimed by UNESCO as Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. The Great Dance is now on the Representative List under the 2003 Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention of which Zimbabwe is a signatory. At a time we should be seeking to be conjoined to Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia in the listing and management of Gule Wamkulu as a transboundary element, we have unnecessary diversion in cultural and religious intolerance by other sect leaders. The relevant ministry must act on such divisive behaviour. We have seen the results of such recklessness in Denmark and France. Colonialism, and by extension Christianity, has historically been the major threat to African spiritual and cultural practices. Today we would expect modernisation, urbanisation, lack of interest among young people and commercialisation as key threats to our intangible cultural heritage. Sadly we must add religious recklessness to this list. The management of Gule Wamkulu safeguarding project as a transboundary intangible heritage has brought the Chewa communities in the three countries, Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique closer as demonstrated by the growing interest and participation in the Kulamba Ceremony which is held at Mkaika, Kalonga Gawa Undi’s residence in Zambia. In African countries where colonial rule instilled negative attitudes towards most traditional practices it is necessary to invest in awareness raising activities to bring an appreciation of the positive aspects of these traditions and justify the safeguarding programme. A starting point is for the Ministry of Sport Arts and Culture to ensure that religious and cultural groups respect and practice religious tolerance and cultural diversity. They should not wait for the greatest and longest dance to be held under the blue roof before they act.