Muso’s home turned into heritage site
Mbulu lived in the house during apartheid before going on exile in US
The home of jazz maestro Letta Mbulu will next month be declared a national heritage site.
House number 1670 Molahloe Street, Orlando East in Soweto, will be decorated with a Johannesburg Heritage Site Blue Plaque from the Heritage Ways in partnership with the City of Johannesburg Immovable Heritage department and the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation.
Mbulu lived in the house with her mother, brothers and aunt during apartheid before moving to the US.
“We struggled under apartheid. My brothers were chased by the police for pass laws and pass books. The cops would come at 4am to kick the door [open] looking for them… I lost my brother when I was 13.
“He was arrested and taken to Leeuwkop prison, where he was shot at close range and died. When we tried to get his body, the authorities refused to release it, my mother had to get a lawyer,” Mbulu said in a statement.
“But there are also great memories I cherish. It was a musical family, both my mother and aunt were into music and that kept us going.
“I also come from a neighbourhood that I have great respect for.
“There was camaraderie and the men and women held on to the spirit that every child is their child,” she said.
The honour is part of 2018 Legacy Events and as part of the celebrations, there will be a Letta Mbulu Honorary Lecture at Northwards Place in Parktown on September 23.
The heritage status will be bestowed in the house on her birthday – September 24.
Heritage Researcher and Strategy Developer at Heritage Ways in Soweto, Tshenolo Mokhele, said: “Where Mama Letta Mbulu grew up in Orlando East is a place that will be credited as a ‘Mother of all Townships’ under the leadership of the late great civic leader Mr James Sofasonke Mpanza, who in the 1940s led the struggle of land grabs.
“Materials such as the Letta Mbulu sites must also be considered for future inscription into the national liberation Route Register of Sites.”
‘‘ There are also great memories I cherish. It was musical family