Fitting honour for majestic Shabalala

IT IS fitting that Joseph Shabalala, the founder of isicathamiya group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, will be honoured with The Order of Ikhamanga for his contribution to the arts.

Delivering the eulogy at Shabalala’s funeral at the weekend in Ladysmith, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Shabalala and Ladysmith Black Mambazo had left an imprint on the music world and the nation which would continue to be felt long after he was gone.

“The quietly majestic sound of isicathamiya, and of imbube, another form in which Bab’ Shabalala excelled, has been known to move listeners worldwide to tears. It is an extraordinary musical tradition that is uniquely South African.”

Shabalala’s music captured the inhumane migrant labour system, which was the economic backbone of the apartheid system. His music spoke of inequality and poverty, factors that still affect millions of South Africans in a post-apartheid country.

Shabalala, Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba were artists who used their art to expose the politics of the day to a mass audience.

Reflecting on Black Mambazo, Ramaphosa said: “Their music has carried to the world the South African people’s story of pain, dispossession and loss, but also tales of camaraderie, friendship, triumph and faith.”

Their music brought together people across political lines and helped to forge social cohesion. Shabalala above all will be remembered as a man who humanised the plight of millions of South Africans.