The Shabalala Family and the extended family,Speaker of the National AssemblyMECs and Mayors,Religious and traditional leaders,We are here this morning to bid a sad farewell and pay tribute to Dr Bhekizizwe Joseph Siphathimandla Bigboy Mxoveni Shabalala, a man truly deserving of the title of legend, isihlabani!
And yet despite his success he had his feet firmly on the ground: the ground right here in this community where he was born, and where he raised his family. It transports us in the cars, taxis and trains, along the roads and railway lines that cut into the land, and takes us into the interior where the cities of Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo rise.
We recall the haunting melody of the song, “Weeping”, of the man who lived in fear, and built a wall of steel and flame, with men with guns to keep it tame. “Ay’hlalephansi” – Sit down and Make Peace, “Love your Neighbour” and “Different Colours mean Nothing to Me”: all tunes that harnessed the new era of reconciliation and democracy in South Africa.Many of the lyrics he composed reflected his own lived experience, and of growing up amidst hardship.
He championed pride in culture and language and indigenous music at a time when our cultures were being degraded and denigrated by our oppressors.The mambazo or axe was the means with which they would pave their way to success, and indeed, they did.Bab’ Shabalala had long urged that various types of isicathamiya be researched, analysed by musicologists, be notated and be taught in music academies.
Like we supported the construction of the National Academy of Performing Arts in Jabulani Soweto in collaboration with the Caiphus Semenya Foundation and the construction of the Polokwane Theatre in partnership with the Limpopo Provincial Government, we will make sure the Mambazo Academy is built, this I can promise you.It has the immense power to rouse people to action and give them a sense of purpose.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo was the first and the only full-time professional choir that could live on royalties and concert fees alone.
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