Freshlyground back – with new message
Bay-born singer takes stand for oppressed
IT has been six years since pan-African sextet Freshlyground’s last official concert in Port Elizabeth and, with a freshly released single that sends a clear message on female empowerment, their Eastern Cape-born lead singer is looking forward to interacting with fans.
New Brighton-raised Zolani Mahola, 36, said performing for fans in her home province has always stood out for her and she is keen to share Freshlyground’s newly released single, Blck Grls, with them at the Nedbank Valley Concert at Hopewell Estate outside Port Elizabeth this weekend.
The single – a sneak peak at the sextet’s upcoming album, Can’t Stop – is, according to Mahola, a revolutionary anthem aimed at empowering and embracing black women who rank at the bottom of societal hierarchy.
“But if I were to take the conversation of empowerment further, I would go on to embrace and seek to empower all women and men because we all need it,” she said.
The dynamic vocalist said it was time to focus the conversation on highlighting the power that women in general possess, beyond being boxed in by societal expectations.
Having constantly been bombarded with messages that dictated how she should or should not dress and behave as a young woman, Mahola said she had grown up to reclaim her own freedom and took it upon herself to free other people who needed it, through music.
“I’ve received messages from all around me that the kind of music I listen to and the way I dress are ‘wrong’ and growing up I was negatively criticised for being individualistic, which left me feeling quite out,” she said.
“But I’ve grown to embrace that individualism and I guess that’s one of the beauties of getting older.
“It’s very important for me to use my platform to empower youngsters who listen to my music because I believe there is power in music.”
Mahola is the lyrics head writer for the band and often uses music to protest against patriarchy and social and political injustices.
Regarding the ongoing worldwide fight against gender discrimination and women and child abuse – with movements such as #MeToo which saw women share experiences of sexual abuse – Mahola thinks South Africa still has a long way to go.
“Bearing in mind how little support Khwezi got and how much our [former] president [Jacob Zuma]
I realise just how far we are from being free of patriarchy and of women being treated as playthings for men
got away with, I realise just how far we are from being free of patriarchy and of women being treated as playthings for men,” she said.
“It took a long time for our outrage regarding that to build and the ANC Women’s League’s response was just so disappointing as well.”
On the displeasure expressed by social media users at President Cyril Ramaphosa recently appointing Bathabile Dlamini as minister of women, declaring her incompetent, Mahola said she was just as disappointed.
“It just does not make sense to elect a woman who seems fundamentally not to be in touch with the people she is supposed to be representing,” she said.
Freshlyground will headline the Nedbank Valley Concert, along with Monark, accompanied by top local music artists Deon van Driel, Wayne Kallis, Bird and Bear (Marc Anthony Music), Joe van der Linden and African Drumbeat, from 11.30am on Sunday.