A LONG running feud between Alick Macheso and Tongai Moyo was sparked by an identical pair of SOCKS the stars wore on a tour of Mozambique, a newspaper reported.
The pair discovered they were being two-timed by a UK-based woman who sent them identical clothing, according to the Sunday Mail.
The married pair were good friends until they mysteriously fell out, and newspapers speculated wildly over the real source of their beef.
Among the theories proffered over the years, it was speculated that the tiff kicked off when guitarist Spencer Khumbulani left Macheso’s Orchestra Mberikwazvo to join Moyo’s Utakataka Express.
Some cited Moyo’s alleged copying of Macheso’s stage antics, like the introduction of Shiga Shiga, which many felt was copied from Jonas Kasamba, a member of Macheso's band.
Others speculated the pair were just jealous of each other’s success.
But the Mail says it can finally reveal the REAL reason why the sungura stars fell out: a woman called Monalisa and a pair of socks.
Macheso, the paper said, had always been telling Moyo about his newfound lover who was in the habit of pampering him with gifts.
The paper reported: “The narrations went on and on, week after week. When they were on a tour in Mozambique, Macheso, as usual, went to Moyo’s room with his narrations and told him how he had fallen in love with the woman and how the relationship was on the verge of destroying his marriage.
“Brother to brother, musician to musician, Moyo counselled him and assured him that everything would be fine, with time. As Macheso -- who was wearing shorts -- stood up to leave the room, Moyo noticed that he was donning the same label of socks as he was.
“Moyo casually asked Macheso, who was already at the door, if the woman he was always talking about could have been in the United Kingdom. The answer was in the affirmative.
“And could she be Monalisa?
“And then the fight started! Not a physical exchange of blows, but that was to be the beginning of the longest-running sungura feud in the country’s history.”
It is claimed Monalisa was shipping goods for the pair through Moyo’s SISTER, who lives in Harare’s Glen View suburb.
The discovery of the love triangle was a bitter pill to swallow for both artists, the Mail revealed, because they had dedicated some of their artistic work to her.
Macheso album, Zvakanaka Zvakadaro, was apparently dedicated to Monalisa. The title track in fact is called Monalisa.
Meanwhile, Moyo, the paper reports, was featuring Monalisa in videos, notably on Mudzimu Weshiri, which he coined soon after an accident. The songs were released around the same time — in 1998.