THE Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority has endorsed a music festival, ‘Rhino Fest Three’, to be headlined by legendary South African musician PJ Powers, next month.
The festival seeks to raise funds to help national anti-poaching efforts.
One of the organisers, Bud Cockcroft, said the festival will be held at Old Georgians Sports Club in Mount Pleasant.
He said the festival was a major fundraising effort in aid of anti-poaching to be held in Harare on May 7.
“South African artistes PJ Powers and Ghapi will be performing at the festival, along with many local bands and musicians, all of whom have given their time absolutely 100 percent free of charge,” said Cockcroft.
The local acts will include singer/songwriter Cockcroft, Gary Stanley, Mackay, Public Nuisance, Amy & The Calamities, DJ Macson and DJ Frank and others.
PJ Powers, born Penelope Jane Dunlop, in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, is one of the few white musicians who denounced apartheid in South Africa using her musical talents to condemn the dehumanising system that did not regard blacks as people.
In 1988 PJ Powers was banned from airing on radio and television for a year by the apartheid government for performing at a charity concert for war orphans in Zimbabwe, along with Miriam Makeba and Harry Belafonte. 
So loved is she by the black community that they nicknamed her ‘Thandeka’, which means ‘Be Likeable’.
The musician, with a powerful husky voice, has recorded 15 albums and is well-known for her UK chart hit ‘World In Union’ which she did in collaboration with the iconic Ladysmith Black Mambazo in 1995.
According to Wikipedia, PJ Powers’ first musical group was an all-girls band called Pantha.
About a year later, she joined Jimslip, which in time became the famous Hotline.
She was the lead singer for the rock band Hotline, formed in Johannesburg in 1980.
The band changed their style to Afro-rock in 1983.
Hotline disbanded in 1987, after which PJ Powers pursued a solo career.
She recorded the Rugby World Cup official song featuring Ladysmith Black Mambazo, ‘World In Union’, in 1995 and the song reached number 47 on the UK singles chart.
In the 1990s, her music took on a more Afro-pop focus, finding a receptive audience on the black African market.
Some of her biggest hits include, ‘Feel So Strong’, a 1983 duet with Steve Kekana, ‘You’re So Good To Me’ (1982), ‘There Is An Answer’ (1986) and ‘Home to Africa’ (1985).
One of her biggest hits (with Hotline) was ‘Jabulani’, which was written by Hotline’s bass guitarist, George van Dyk.
Internationally, PJ Powers has shared the stage with Eric Clapton, Joan Armatrading, Hugh Masekela, Divine Divas, Lord Richard Attenborough, Richard E. Grant, Sibongile Khumalo and Janet Suzman.
She has also sung for Queen Elizabeth of the UK, King Juan Carlos of Spain and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.
Her latest album, Destiny was released at the end of 2013.
All proceeds from the festival will benefit the national anti-poaching effort, with focus on the Saving Our Legacy (SOUL) Trust.
Cockcroft said the SOUL Trust has initiated a specialised dog unit called ‘K9’s For Conservation’.
The specially-trained dogs will be used on tracking operations in support of anti-poaching efforts nationwide.
They are based in Matabeleland North and already have four trained dogs and six kennels.
Their goal is to have 24 trained dogs and handlers and 24 kennels.
The dog teams would be available for deployment to any area of Zimbabwe, hand-in-hand with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority.
The country has continued to lose its wildlife to poachers who have become sophisticated in their illegal operations.