Across Bulawayo and the wider Matebeleland region, a new generation of digital storytellers is reshaping the way Zimbabwean culture is shared, celebrated, and monetised.
Creators like SaJakobe, Langa Ndimande, Khiwa, Joyful Ncube, Sipho Micernt, and Umnikazi Wempuphu are building engaged audiences online, turning TikTok clips, Instagram posts, and YouTube videos into platforms for expression, influence, and income.
Too often, however, their creativity has been treated as free raw material.
Large publishers and international platforms repost and monetise content without proper credit or compensation, leaving creators, many of whom work under costly data limits and unreliable electricity, with nothing but visibility.
The pattern echoes the extraction of resources Matebeleland has historically endured, with value flowing outward while those who produce it remain on the margins.
A change is happening. Joyful Ncube has been leading efforts to help creators monetise their work directly, and many others have followed, taking deliberate steps to make sure their effort and talent translate into income.
Keep Reading
- Revisiting Majaivana’s last show… ‘We made huge losses’
- Edutainment mix: The nexus of music and cultural identity
- ChiTown acting mayor blocks election
- Promoter Mdu 3D defends foreigners 30 minute set
Umnikazi Wempuphu and other creators are showing that Bulawayo’s talent can professionalise their craft, protect their work, and claim their place in the digital economy.
Government support is beginning to emerge.
According to ZBC News and based on reports from The Chronicle, the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services is engaging with global platforms to unlock monetisation rights for local creators.
They are also exploring programmes to allow revenue generation through domestic initiatives.
This is a welcome step, but more coordinated action is needed across ministries, from ICT to Arts and Recreation to Finance, to secure Zimbabwe’s place in the fast-growing digital creative economy.
Media houses in Bulawayo and beyond also have a role to play.
They need to establish ethical standards that protect creators from having their work appropriated and to offer transparent partnerships that amplify rather than exploit.
When publishers and platforms work fairly with local talent, everyone benefits.
Creators earn, media content improves, and Zimbabwean culture reaches the world on Zimbabwean terms.
Content creation in Bulawayo and Matebeleland is more than a hobby. It is labour, culture, and economic potential.
With the right support and fair recognition, this generation of creators can turn passion into profit, storytelling into sustainable careers, and local creativity into opportunities that belong to the people who create it. Matebeleland’s creators are not waiting. They are taking control, and it is time for the rest of the country to support them.