A fresh start for Zolani
She will be devoting time to public speaking and performing to a different beat with her own career
ZOLANI Mahola announced this week that she is leaving Freshlyground – the finale of a 17-year-old marriage that took her and the group to legendary heights.
Just days before the announcement at a press conference in Johannesburg, the lead singer of the popular group spoke frankly in an exclusive interview about going in a new direction in which she would be devoting more time to public speaking and performing to a different beat with her own music.
“At the end of the year, I’ll be taking my leave of Freshlyground and focusing on my solo work, as well as being involved in public speaking, motivational and for corporates,” she said.
For all these years, her name has been inextricably linked to the internationally acclaimed Freshlyground. Through their unifying music, the group captured the heart of the nation, and during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, gained massive global recognition, collaborating with Shakira when they recorded the official song for this flagship event, performing to more than a billion people worldwide.
Mahola says she will definitely be demonstrating her magic in bridging social, racial and language divides through her music when she picks up the mic in her new role.
She has already presented audiences with a new body of work in earlier concerts this year and says; “My own stuff has completely different influences. When you’re part of a collective, it’s a collaboration, and now this is uniquely my voice. The audience will hear a different voice.”
She says she’ll be coming out as an instrumentalist and playing the guitar. “There’ll be folk music, and I’m planning on drawing on different influences and traditions, like American and South African folk.”
Born in Port Elizabeth in 1981, Mahola studied Theatre and Performance at the University of Cape Town where she met the musicians who would shape their lives when Freshlyground was born in 2002.
The group and Mahola became a household name, and the vibrant mother of two and wife is well-loved and respected as a talented artist. In many of her songs, there is one theme that is repeated, and she says it will remain: of exploring identity and belonging.
“While we are all connected and have so much in common, our stories are all unique, and we have to be curious about our own and each others’ stories, to find the reason we were put on this planet and to be our full expression.”
As an actress, she’s staged a tribute show to Ella Fitzgerald and was recognised in the street for her lead role as Boniswa in the SABC drama series which ran from 2003 – 2005.
She says she will be furthering her passion for storytelling. “I am a lover of narrative. As a trade actress, I’ve had wonderful experiences for over two decades, and want to share this story.