Gospel singer Fungisai blows top: ‘They stole my face, my voice, my everything!’

Gospel queen Fungisai Zvakavapano Mashavave has had enough — and this morning she let it all out on Facebook!

The sensational singer says she is being brazenly cloned — her songs, her dance, her dress code, her mannerisms — all copied note-for-note and sold for profit without her consent.

In a fiery post, Fungisai said she has been quiet for too long in the name of peace and Ubuntu.

Her anger comes as cover bands reviving old hits are enjoying huge success.

Groups such as Intotal Band have become crowd pullers by playing yesteryear classics, landing big corporate gigs and in some cases making more money than the original owners — a trend that has left many original artists fuming.

Seasoned entertainment journalist Jonathan Mbiriyamveka, who has covered Zimbabwe’s music scene for over 25 years, said: “Most artists are against Intotal’s strategy of performing cover versions. It has previously caused a social media furore.”

But Fungisai says her case goes beyond a simple cover.

She claims a top bank hired her look-alikes to do what she does, for peanuts.

It is not a cover, it is impersonation, she said. They are using my personality, my music, my creativity to create unfair competition and I was never asked.

She said efforts to talk to them respectfully as a fellow Christian were ignored.

Her message was blunt: If I opened a bank tomorrow using another bank’s name, colours and uniforms and started stealing its customers as a tribute, I would be arrested. So why is it okay to steal an artist’s legacy?

The star is now asking tough questions about the law, citing the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act, the Competition Act and the law of Passing Off, and whether it is actually protecting artists.

She ended with a warning shot to everyone watching — lawmakers, the church, fans and haters:

“Pfekaiwo bhutsu dzangu. Feel my pain.

Mateacher echirungu, garai pasi!”