Heritage, Hotstix Mabuse and a side of suitcase

The thing with taking a legend to lunch is that you have to get over yourself.

You don’t want to come over all fawning, but the truth is I am just a little star-struck and who can blame me? 

Sipho Hotstix Mabuse is the soundtrack to some very parlous passages of our history and a national treasure.  

I think they have given him some kind of certification to that effect.  I fear that is probably what happens when you turn threescore and 10 and are still very much in the game.

Luckily,  it transpires he has the disposition and charm of a much less famous man.  He speaks very softly, making all who engage with him lean in. I think it must be part of his winning strategy, making everyone who comes within his ambit feel like they are in the charmed inner circle.   

We meet at 1947 on the less touristy side of Vilakazi Street, shortly after Heritage Day, which he celebrated by means of a “Legends Tribute with Hotstix”  at the Soweto Theatre with other members  of the national heritage team — Abigail Kubeka, Babsy Mlangeni, PJ Powers, The Soul Brothers, Blondie and Pappa.  

It is a glamorous, chic restaurant with one of those glass wine cellars that is  insanely well stocked with some seriously pricey wines and champagne. Up the stairs you get the killer view. It’s the sort of place where people come to celebrate graduating children, but comfortable enough to take a quick working lunch with your laptop.

Sipho is a regular, he hosted his 70th birthday party here, and they know his order: salmon and veggies with a side of  suitcase. He orders me a shot as well and it definitely takes the edge off.

From our vantage point on the balcony he points out the streets where he grew up, his parents' house and where he went to high school. Not the second time round, which was 10 years ago so he could finally matriculate.

“I live in Pimville, with the two tallest trees in Soweto. Palm trees. People ask me 'aren’t you scared they will fall on you'? I say if you watched Discovery Channel you would know that even when the tsunami comes, those trees remain standing.” 

He has his studio at home, and qualifies that it is not in his bedroom, if I was wondering. He also has a strong line of spinach in his garden, and land in Hekpoort, where he indulges his  deep interest in farming.

“I was at an agricultural symposium and people were talking about food security and I was thinking, maybe this is what I should have studied, given the current state of the country. We’re going to have to be self-reliant. Those farmers are wonderful people. I could phone at midnight and say my car is stuck in the mud and they will come and help me.”

I quickly realise that Sipho is profoundly invested in his hood and has a deep connection with his community. “People ask me why I still live in Soweto. I could have moved to Sandton behind high walls, but I have always believed that you have a responsibility towards your community, and you have this enabling interaction.

“When we grew up in our streets, we were inspired by others, we were motivated. There was a teacher, there was a doctor, there was a lawyer, a great footballer, a great musician, a great businessman. You know I became this fantastic drummer because I was inspired by Early Mabuza, the greatest drummer in the country. So if I leave, if all of us leave, who do these young people look to so they can say life can be different?”

Does he feel a burden being so closely identified with the national heritage? “I never feel that, if anything I’m the opposite. I feel, where can I enter and make a difference in people's lives? That’s one of the things I’m very passionate about.”

I wonder which contemporary musicians he rates? “You know I have always been amused by young people’s creativity. Sadly, in our industry they limit themselves to the material. They don’t grow beyond how much money should we be making, and stuff like that. So their creativity is curtailed as a result of trying to be rich and that is sad. They can’t evolve beyond their genre.

“I went to Washington DC, the university there, and I met some of the top jazz musicians in the world. Freddie Hubbard the trumpeter was there; when I told him where I came from he was so excited. You know the one thing we should always appreciate is what Hugh and Miriam did. We underestimate what those people did for us, and for this continent. Especially Miriam. We have not appreciated Miriam. 

“So this guy says, you know Hugh Masekela? I said of course, I played with him. He said, you guys are the only other country in the world that can play the blues like us. You know, that’s the highest compliment for an American. And  I said, yes but we can play even more than the blues.”