Qeqeshiwe Mntambo Seeks Professional Guidance as She Prepares to Reignite Her Music Career
Multi-award-winning actress and musician Qeqeshiwe Mntambo is preparing to reignite her musical career and is calling on experienced entertainment industry professionals to help guide the next chapter of her journey. The Victoria Falls-based artiste, who recently welcomed a child, appears ready to return to the music scene after spending years building an accomplished career across music, theatre, film and dance. Her return comes with a clear focus on establishing stronger professional structures around her work rather than simply resuming performances. Mntambo wants to work with people who understand the entertainment business and can help develop, manage and position her career for sustainable growth. With her extensive artistic experience and proven record in the arts, she believes the time is right to take her music to a wider audience and prepare it for export.
For Mntambo, returning to music is about more than stepping back onto a stage after an extended period away. She wants to ensure that her creative work receives the planning, documentation, management and strategic direction needed to build a lasting career. Looking back at her experiences, she identified the absence of proper documentation and professional management as major obstacles that affected the growth of her career. “Looking back, failing to document my work and not having proper management or a team has been my biggest setback,” she said. Mntambo noted that this challenge affects many artistes who are required to manage the creative, administrative and business responsibilities of their careers without adequate professional support.
The artiste is now actively seeking a professional manager, agent or promoter with a proven record of working with musicians and other creative professionals. She wants someone who understands the complexities of the entertainment industry and can contribute to building a long-term career rather than focusing only on securing individual bookings. Mntambo made it clear that she is looking for experienced professionals who can provide genuine guidance and strategic direction. “Are there professional managers, agents or promoters with a proven track record working with artistes? Not ‘chancers’ or ‘wanna-bes’, but people who genuinely build, guide, and shape an artist’s career?” she asked. Her appeal reflects a desire to enter the next phase of her career with the right team and a clear professional strategy.
Mntambo said she is ready to collaborate with the right person or team to strengthen her career and take her music to new markets. “I am looking forward to working with such a person and collaborate with them to make this happen and solidify my cereer, which I believe is ready for exportation,” she said. Her comments indicate that she sees significant potential in the music she has developed and wants to create the structures required to present it to broader audiences. The emphasis on exportation is particularly significant for an artiste based in Victoria Falls, a location with strong connections to tourism and international visitors. With professional representation, Mntambo hopes to turn her artistic experience and existing body of work into new opportunities locally and beyond Zimbabwe.
The call for industry support comes from an artiste who has already established herself across several creative disciplines. Qeqe, as she is known professionally, has built a multifaceted career that encompasses theatre, film, music and dance. Her work has consistently incorporated elements of cultural identity, allowing her to use performance as a way of celebrating and preserving her heritage. This background gives her a broad creative perspective and allows her to move between different forms of artistic expression. Her experience across multiple disciplines could also help her develop a distinctive musical brand as she prepares for a renewed presence in the industry.
As an actress, Mntambo has appeared in more than 10 theatre and film productions, demonstrating her versatility as a performer. Her acting achievements include winning the National Arts Merit Awards Outstanding Actress award in 2013 for her portrayal of Suku in Suku. She later secured another Nama acting accolade, making her a two-time winner at the prestigious Zimbabwean arts awards. These achievements established her as a respected performer within the country’s creative sector and demonstrated her ability to deliver acclaimed work. Her acting background also provides her with performance experience that could complement her return to music, particularly as she develops live shows that draw on her theatrical strengths.
Qeqe is also part of the cast of Simunye: The Spirit of Africa, a Victoria Falls-based production that brings performers together to celebrate African culture and creativity. Her involvement in the production reflects her continued connection to the performing arts even during periods when her music career has not been at the centre of public attention. Productions such as Simunye provide opportunities for artists to preserve cultural traditions while presenting them through contemporary performance. For Mntambo, this connection to cultural storytelling remains an important part of her artistic identity. Her experience in such productions further strengthens her ability to combine music, theatre and cultural expression in ways that can distinguish her work.
Music has remained an important part of Mntambo’s creative identity, and her planned return could introduce a new phase of her musical career. She is particularly associated with Afro-jazz, soul and Xhosa-influenced music, while her repertoire has also explored house. These influences give her music a broad foundation and create opportunities for her to appeal to different audiences while maintaining a strong cultural identity. A renewed focus on music could allow her to revisit earlier material, develop new projects and introduce her sound to listeners who may not have encountered her work previously. With stronger management and documentation in place, she could also create a more consistent release and performance strategy around her music.
Her artistic journey has also included collaborations with Zimbabwean performing-arts organisations and established performers. Mntambo has worked with Umkhathi Theatre Works and was formerly associated with Sandra Ndebele’s Intombi Zomqangala. These experiences have exposed her to different approaches to performance and strengthened her connection to Zimbabwe’s wider creative community. Her ability to operate across music, theatre and cultural performance gives her a distinctive professional profile within the local entertainment sector. It also means that her return to music has the potential to draw on a wide network of artistic influences and relationships developed throughout her career.
Mntambo’s decision to seek professional management highlights a wider issue facing many independent artistes who must balance creativity with the practical demands of running a career. Recording music, securing performances, negotiating agreements, maintaining archives, promoting releases and developing audiences all require time and expertise. When artistes handle these responsibilities alone, important opportunities can be missed and valuable creative work may not receive proper documentation or long-term preservation. Mntambo’s experience has encouraged her to approach her next chapter differently by seeking professionals who can complement her artistic abilities with business and strategic expertise. Her focus on proper structures suggests that she is not simply planning a comeback but is looking to build a more organised and sustainable career.
Qeqeshiwe Mntambo’s planned return to music represents an opportunity to bring together the different parts of an artistic career that has already produced significant achievements. Her experience in acting, theatre, dance and music has given her a broad creative foundation, while her Nama awards demonstrate the level of recognition she has achieved as a performer. Now, she wants to combine that experience with professional management, better documentation and a strategic approach to developing her music. Her call for experienced managers, agents and promoters could mark an important turning point as she looks to reach audiences beyond Zimbabwe. If she finds the right professional partners, Mntambo’s next musical chapter could build on her established reputation while giving her the structure and direction she believes have been missing from her career.
