CHINGWA NE MARUVA

CHINGWA NE MARUVA

CHINGWA NE MARUVA

My belly wakes me again
Ndomuka nafour dze makuseni
Ndoenda kumsika
The life of a vendor
Selling rape and tomatoes
And tomatoes and rape ’cause every day is rape
And stolen dignity
Ask me for my ID and vending licence
Is that not violence?
Do I need a licence to live
Is life theirs to give?

Chingwa ne maruva
Bread and roses, mama
Chingwa ne maruva
Bread and roses, mama

He smashes the tomatoes
Uses baton sticks for avocados
All he knows is how to break
’Cause he breaks for the law’s sake
It’s a neverending process of cleaning
Cleansing
Like a frenzy
Mai vake vanotengesa maveggie
But she sells them in a council place
So she should be legal and safe
So smash tomotaoes
Crush avocados
Destroy the table
Destroy what’s illegal
Smash tomatoes
Crush avocados
Destroy the table
Destroy what’s illegal

Chingwa ne maruva
Bread and roses, mama
Chingwa ne maruva
Bread and roses, mama

Here come the forces of good
Those who wage war on food
I thought ours was the land and the fruits
Now crushed by these blind boots
Saying my food is dirty
No, my food is dignity
It sends my children to school you see
Chinobhadara mabills angu ne renti
From now on handichatengese maveggie
You’ll see me in the streets demanding two things
Love and dignity
‘Cause I’m a mother gone wild
Today my fruits were destroyed by my own child