Tshedi Mholo unravels the mystery of Malaika's silence: Egos, power struggles and money

If ever a band were ripe for a ride on the reunion carousel, it's award-winning afro-pop group Malaika. The last time fans got to see them performing was in 2013 at a Jazz Festival in Moretele Park‚ Pretoria. But sadly‚ since then‚ lead singer Tshedi Mholo and bandmate Bongani Nchang have not only stopped performing together, they're also not on speaking terms.

"It just breaks my heart," Tshedi bemoans during a tell-all interview with TMG Entertainment.

"Last time I spoke to Bongani was around March/April when I asked him if we could meet, and he asked what would we be talking about. I told him that we would talk about Malaika. And he just never pitched."

The songbird took a sip of her water, in what appeared to be an attempt to stem the tears that welled up in her eyes, as she opened up about her troubled relationship with Bongani.

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She expressed her desire for the two of them to iron out their differences, so that they can revive Malaika and go back to producing the hottest songs - one thing that Malaika never failed to do.

"In my heart, I felt a bit sad, asking 'Am I that bad? What did I ever do to him?' I'm also hearing whispers that he does no longer want to work with me, and that he is planning on forming his own Malaika. And I can't even verify that, because he is the only person that can tell me truth.

Even Sony has been asking me, for the past two years, about his whereabouts. I just want him to tell me what I did to him, so that I can apologise. I'm not saying we must become friends, but we owe Sony an album, and I would just like to get that done."

The warning signs were there...

According to Tshedi, a number of distressing events started plaguing the group, leading up to that final moment when she and Bongani stopped making contact and performing together.

She admitted that, in the moment, she opted to turn a blind-eye to the warning signs that showed her that Malaika could be heading for a downfall.

"Our personal lives started to affect the group. One would be late, the one would have to start the show. Now we would be arguing and fighting, and because there are only two of us, there would be no one to stop us," she revealed, before pointing out that they were beset with a power struggle, which reared its ugly head moments before their temporary split.

"Also, there was a power struggle between Bongani and I. It was about who is the decision-maker between the both us."

"He would not pitch for interviews, but I would cover up for him. He could have also been doing things for me that I was not aware of. But all those things started to cause a drift between us. And Bongani just didn't understand when I was trying to be strict to protect our brand."

The feuding and fights after Jabu's passing

In 2008, the group lost one of it's members, Jabulani Ndaba, after a long battle with TB. Since then, Tshedi let slip that her and Bongani started having verbal brawls a lot more often, even in front of people. And with Jabu gone, there was no mediator to help them resolve their conflicts.

"We were a family. People knew not to get involved in our fights, because we were quick to solve them. But after Jabu passed on, things changed because it was just Bongani and I, and given that he's a man, he wanted to dominate and I also felt that I had the power to make decisions, because I'm an equal shareholder. I think we had the same vision, but just didn't agree on ways to achieve that vision.

"And now we'd end up arguing in front of people. And dancers as well as our road managers would not know what to do. Sometimes they would take sides - up to a point where I felt that managing us became such a difficult task for our management. When you're manager and you're a man, you're bound to listen more to another man than a woman."

Tshedi has a twinkle in her eyes when she spoke about Jabu earlier in the conversation. The two immediately hit it off when they met at church. Jabu used to play the keyboard, and Tshedi was the lead singer of her choir.

"I would just sing something, and he would be able to swiftly follow, without giving him any sign or hint. We just had that connection," she gushed.

"I believe Jabu would be a great part of my life and career if he were alive. He was family-orientated, passionate about music, and he liked having people around him. He used to bring in that township vibe to the trio. He was a little pantsula. He was also very creative and talented. He did well."

Hands-on: 'I was always the one monitoring the business side of things'

Tshedirevealed that she played an integral part in the success of Malaika - which wasn't always well-received by fellow group members, dancers and even management.

While her notable role was being the voice behind the catchy choruses of some of the group's hit songs - including Destiny, 2Bop, and Mhla' Uphel' Amandla -Tshedi claimed she did more than that, to a point where she'd take on management's job - such as organising a reliable transport service for the group.

"When we got to gigs, it was me who would build friendships and business relationships. I would also organise our attires and even had a bus which used to transport us. This came after experiencing a number of transport problems, and I thought, let me get a bus for the group. It was better, because it was controlled from my side. My driver was reliable and we were never late for any show.

"But then it was said that my bus must be taken out. The news quickly spread to the dancers, who would come tell me that there are talks that my bus will be taken out, because when we're in the bus, I was too bossy. I took the accusations lightly. I thought it was funny. But I decided after some time that, for the sake of peace, I will let go of my bus. Anyway, management was supposed to take care of our transport. It was not my role in the first place, I was just taking initiative, because I saw that we were having problems."

Memorable moments

It was not all fights, feuds, egos and power struggles behind the closed doors of Malaika, or if you prefer, one of the most successful music groups to ever emerge out of South Africa.

And if you've ever had the privilege of seeing them performing, there is no shred of doubt that you would be intoxicated by their powerful chemistry.

Mostly because those moments on stage were real - a great way to kiss and make up after encountering any dispute or problem within the group, said Tshedi.

"My most memorable moments with the group is when we would go on stage, after having a fight, and perform like nothing ever happened. We'd kill it, and even forget what we were fighting about before that."

"Also, when we were in studio doing what we do best. I enjoyed it when we would harmonise. Sometimes we would play around with Mafikizolo's songs - without them knowing. And then the next thing, we would hear people saying that Mafikizolo is not happy that we're singing their songs and therefore, will be calling us," she laughed as she recalled these smile-inducing times with her music family.