Honouring the voice of a nation
TODAY we pay tribute to Thandi Klaasen, a doyenne of South African jazz and blues and one of the most iconic women in music, who died yesterday at 86 after battling pancreatic cancer for a long time.
A product of 1950s Sophiatown, the place of music, dreams, tsotsis and contradictions, Klaasen was one of the most distinguished and most consistent jazz and blues singers of her era.
Her death marks the end of that era of authentic jazz and blues vocalists, and should remind us of our rich musical history and how artists of her time used their talent to keep people hopeful during the difficult years under the yoke of oppression.
Together with divas such as Miriam Makeba, Dolly Rathebe, Dorothy Masuka and Sophie Mgcina, she was a household name during the most brutal years of apartheid, telling the stories of the people through their music. They refused to give up. Of this group, only Masuka is still alive. They are part of the rich heritage of this country, and their deaths must not remove them from the history of the struggle against white minority rule. As if the brutalities of apartheid weren’t enough, Klaasen suffered acid burns that left her face badly disfigured when she was only a teenager, and her life revolved around the stage, where she entertained her people.
Many people would have given up at that point, considering how beauty and style – not just talent – defined life in 1950s Sophiatown. But she didn’t give up on her life or her career. Instead, she proved that her voice and stage presence were the real reason she was one of the stars of her time.
One of the stars of Todd Matshikiza’s musical King Kong, Klaasen was cut out for the stage, and until her death yesterday, remained an entertainer, even at 86. Hounded out of her country of birth by the apartheid regime, Klaasen, like others of that era, who included the legendary Drum writers and political activists, fled the country to live overseas, but her heart remained firmly back home.
Thandi Klaasen was a legend and her contribution to our music, heritage and freedom will never be forgotten. She deserves a befitting send-off as we celebrate her life.