A portrait of a young, fierce Winnie Madikizela-Mandela with her fist in the air was shown while Thandiswa “King Ta” Mazwai sang one of her most famous songs, Nizalwa Ngobani?, at the Sankofa Heritage Festival in Johannesburg as she celebrated her 50th birthday.
The song — released in 2006, 12 years into democratic South Africa — provoked the emotions of music lovers when she performed at Carnival City late last month.
Thandiswa is among few musicians who record in art the political and societal national dialogues of South Africa’s democracy. She is what Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi was to Zimbabweans.
In Nizalwa Ngobani? she captures the moment of a nation crawling into democracy and struggling from the shackles of apartheid. The world changes, revolutionaries die and children forget, she sings. The children forget whose shoulders they stand on, they forget the sacrifices made Steve Biko, Robert Sobukwe and many others whose blood was shed while we never got to know their names.
It is a song that reminds there is a great responsibility on the generations who come after the liberation struggle, and that the pursuit of economic freedom for most South Africans and access to land remain a worthy cause.
Thandiswa treated music lovers who attended first leg of the Sankofa Heritage Festival to a performance by Somi Kakoma, the 2021 Grammy Award nominee in the jazz category.
Somi, from Illinois in the US and born to immigrant parents from Rwanda and Uganda, performed legendary Miriam Makeba’s Pata Pata.
Concluding her performance, Somi thanked Thandiswa for creating space for other artists to showcase their talents to a sold-out audience at Carnival City. The essence of her message is the important role of people who make space so women can take up space in society.
“You raised your calloused hands for a share in your own land. Your blood flooded the foothills onto wealthy hands. The gaze of the sons and daughters falls heavy with bloody questions, thick in the lies of allies bound by miners’ blood,” Msaki sang, reminding the audience of the Marikana sassacre.
On August 16 2012, police killed about 34 miners. The massacre remains one of the country’s saddest moments in the post-apartheid era.
To have musicians who record and recall moments in history is important.
As the main act of the night, Thandiswa gave the audience a glimpse into her childhood with Kulingile, narrating the story of a first-born child’s experiences after her mother marries and being told “akungowalapha” (you are not from here).
She narrated how the child was touched in ways she should not have been. Thandiswa describes the song as dedicated to healing childhood wounds. She also treated the audience to songs by Bongo Maffin.
Thandiswa plans to take the festival to the Western Cape and Durban.
• TimesLIVE was provided complementary tickets by the Sankofa Heritage Festival marketing team.
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