Singing In Unity

April 9, 2010 by Authentic Views

During my time at High School I played boxing as a sport. There was a lot of bullying against new comers. There was no other form of self-defense and I thought I could use some of those ring tactics when being confronted by the bullies. Unlike other sports where new comers needed a bit of skill to prove their ability to compete, with boxing all you needed was a good attitude and commitment. The ability to take instructions and willingness to apply certain life style discipline and adhering to a strict diet.

Like other sports, singing was part of our culture as boxers. We sang in the bus as we were going to the next boxing tournament and each time one of us was preparing to face his opponent in the ring. We cheered each other during the fights and sang victory songs when one of us won.

At that time country was still ushering in the new democracy and struggle songs were very popular during sports activities. However as boxers, we were uncomfortable about some of the songs.

Boxing is a physical sport but we didn’t wanna portray it as an army. We adapted some of the songs to suit the boxing mood. The most popular at that time was today’s controversial song ‘Ayesab’ Amagwala’.

toyi_toyi

When we adapted it, a song leader would sing

‘Nantsi le boxer, nants’isiza’, and followers would sing ‘dubula, dubula, dubula boxer’

…. and the second part was ‘Yi shaye ngo left uyiphinde ngo right’ while followers were just repeating their part.

We didn’t want to be caught unprepared, and in a situation where you’re fighting your white opponent and in sidelines they are shouting shoot the Boer. Imagine what kind of attention that would have brought to the fight.

Singing has a history in our liberation struggle. Pro liberation struggle songs were banned during apartheid and some musicians were forced into going to exile because of their music content. It was drawing people attention & awareness of the oppression, encouraging them to unite and fight the apartheid enemy.

After the liberation, one of the artists’ initiatives was when a group of them led by Chicco Twala composed and sang a song ‘Peace in Our Land’. Part of its lyrics were

‘South Africa, we love you, our beautiful land, let’s show the whole world we can bring peace in our land’.

Some musicians, who were big in the struggle genre, like Blondie Makhene, ceased to exist because that content is no longer relevant to what the music markets of today want.

16 years later we are back in that part of history we left behind. The country is divided over a struggle song. Julius Malema, who does not live out the race issue every time he speaks, caused the row when he reintroduced it. And ANC didn’t see anything wrong and despite clear evidence of the division it has created, it chose to go all out defending it.

At the heat of the tension, one of the most hated boers, Eugene Terre’blanche got murdered at a separate incident, which ironically coincided with the song’s madness. It turned the whole climate of his murder to the legitimacy of the song as the white community who were outraged to hear the song directly linked these two.

This brings our attention to the obvious, that there are still installments to be settled.

Whites are fearful and their fear turns into rage because they perceive themselves as being targeted to settle what is left. They do not trust the current ANC leadership. Julius Malema’s racial remarks, which often go unchallenged, do not contradict their fears.

With Jacob Zuma In charge, institutions like NPA, which he battled against in the past 9 years, are now becoming his puppets. His appointee head of NPA Menzi Simelane is terrorizing the institution, demoting prosecutors who either prosecuted Zuma or ANC aligned. That includes the prosecutor who opposed the bail application for Jub Jub recently. This must be alarming not only to whites but to everyone who values the credibility of institutions like NPA.

We should be very concerned when aspiring leaders like Julius Malema go across our borders and shamelessly attack our judiciary institution. What message is this telling about this country?

I have met Zimbabweans who do not agree with everything Mugabe does but wouldn’t let you get away with saying anything bad about him or Zimbabwe.

The murder of Eugene Terre’Blanche happened when a group of local artists have once again united to start a campaign against crime and are singing a song ‘Shout’. Music has got much power.

ANC has lots of songs that don’t incite violence or fear from other racial groups. They have even adapted religious songs and made them to suit them well when sang in their rallies. They were quick to compose songs to counter attack COPE formation. Whatever history certain songs may carry, it’s very important to ask questions about where they are taking us now?

We need more uniting songs than those which bring polarization.

By Authentic Views ©

I know that there’s still a lot of hatred between blacks and whites – this was evident during the elections – and also from the comments on blogs and news articles on the web. It’s clear that a lot of white people regard black people as sub-human hooligans and blacks see whites as heartless oppressors.

BUT – we didn’t fight for freedom in order to reverse the roles. The ANC is supposed to be the People’s Movement – and by people I mean ALL people. The idea is not to make white South Africans or our white visitors feel like they don’t belong here. That’s not what it says in the Freedom Charter. That’s not what Madiba said in his speech during the Rivonia trial.

I don’t know how we are allowing this Julius Malema circus to go this far. Not only are we allowing it – we’re also adding fuel to the fire by elevating this imbecile to celebrity status. Reporting / Broadcasting all his silly utterances and everything about him – from his flashy lifestyle to the brand of soft paper he uses to wipe his ass/face…same thing.

I’ve had enough!

pinana on Fri, 9th Apr 2010 8:49 am

This only calls for prayer. God needs to intervene.

Luluwise on Fri, 9th Apr 2010 8:55 am

A great read Authentic. I did not see anything wrong with the words of the song, I felt it was just a song but I am reconsidering my stance thanks to your post here. My take on the Malema issue and the whole lot of hoopla that took place this week is that perhaps we have been in too much of a hurry as SA citizens to deal with our horrid past forgeting that some scars take longer to heal. Hatred is a disease that eats you up inside and if left to fester it may lead to the outbursts we are witnessing.Perhaps its good that this has come out in the open so we can reflect and make the necessary changes.

siyamthandaskota on Fri, 9th Apr 2010 9:20 am

nice read man. you on point. beautiful!

Fruity on Fri, 9th Apr 2010 9:37 am

Sometimes I feel that if I was not black, I would really be scared of black people. We always complain about how whites treat us like we hooligans but we go out and behave the same way they treat us. Its like some black people, juju included have rejoined the struggle. Yes, the is always a struggle to be fought, but our fight has changed, we should not be putting focus on fuelling racial tension cz there crime rate in this country is escalating everyday not to mention corruption, that is our fight, that is what juju should be focusing all his energy on.

I HATE the fact that julius is representing the youth of SA coz I know for a fact that as a young person in mzantsi i dont share the same values as him. Mbeki was recalled because he was thought to be a dictator but i guess it was easy for Julius to spot another dictator coz that is exactly what he is. The movement that we thought would usher us into a loving, peaceful era where people tolerate one another irrespective of the believs or colour, is the very same one taking us back to a time that most people are trying to forget.

Isnt there anything we can do? I feel so hopeless and powerless

vero on Fri, 9th Apr 2010 9:46 am

Well said my brother, Juju is such an asshole, funny enough in 1994 when Mandela was the president he focused on peace and living in a democratic country, I must say we did good and things where calm then, and now 16 yrs later we going back to square one b’cos of some idiot who thinks he knows better than anyone…

Q-tee on Fri, 9th Apr 2010 10:52 am

Hhayi-cha I listened to the clip, and I feel that the reporter is biased and reporting only one side of the story. He makes it seem like our pple were not justified in singing hate songs against the boers. the only weapon that the black people had against whites was to unite in song and preach the golpel of resistance. Why is the reporter not saying anything about all the black people that were brutally killed by boers and those that disappeared into thin air..how bout those that were force to exile and separated from their families?

Having said that, those songs are no longer relevant now, South Africa has come a long way and a lot of ppl lost lives along the way, lets stop all this nonsense now…anyway why do we want to politise everything coz Mnr ET was killed coz he refused to pay his underage employees…I think he pushed them to rage and it has nothing to do with Juju and his stupid comments.

Semomo on Fri, 9th Apr 2010 10:59 am

WEITSE NNA MARA KE LAPILE KE JULIUS MALEMA,KE LAPILE COZ WANTSHELEKA ND RE TLO BOLELA REBOLELE WITH NO ACTIONS NDENE YENA OJA JOY COZ HE IS A ATTENTION SEEKER MXM.GOD FORGIVE FOR EVEN THINKING THIS BUT I DO WISH JULIUS COULD GET KIDNAPPED ND HIS RANSOM NOT PAID INSTEAD PAY THE KIDNAPPERS TO TAKE HIM TO A FAR AWAY LAND NOT KILL HIM KEEP HIM ALIVE BUT IN A FAR AWAY LAND FROM SA.

Watcher on Fri, 9th Apr 2010 11:00 am

nice take AV http://mukomana-speaking.blogspot.com/ actually believes that AWB owes the two murderers a debt of gratitude. check it out.

Catherine on Fri, 9th Apr 2010 12:19 pm

South Africa we love you
Our Beautiful land
Lets Show the whole world
We can Bring Peace in our land

How on earth do we let everything that the great man fought for be destroyed like this?

We pray that the good Lord of glory and hope to bridge the gape of hate and bring peace in our beloved country South Africa.

Brown Shuga on Fri, 9th Apr 2010 4:42 pm

“South Africa we love you
Our Beautiful land
Lets Show the whole world
We can Bring Peace in our land”

I spent all my bandwith trying to find this song on the internet last night. Mzwakhe Mbuli should try working on making our old hits accessible and stop being a Malema in the making.

You are spot on as always AV.

On another note, I really really enjoy struggle songs guys… there’s something about them. When I sing them, I don’t care what the lyrics say but the melodies…so so addictive. I actually sang along quietly when Malema was on TV singing about “umama uyajabula mangishayi……” …
Jabula mama…. umama uyajabula….

I don’t sing it public though, only when I’m alone and I hum the “shayi bhunu” part. lol. That makes me better than him, right?

Kazisongo on Fri, 9th Apr 2010 5:00 pm

@Watcher I actually agree with the writer of that article. Actually I’m starting to believe that somebody paid those guys to kill ET just to stir things. Its too much of a coincidence, I might be wrong but I smell a rat.

Nthoentle on Fri, 9th Apr 2010 9:36 pm

Kwa kwa kwa BS,nna I don’t know these struggle songs cos they r in Zulu/Xhosa. I only the English version of “kill the boer,the farmer”. That’s the only line I know from that song don’t know if it has/had more lines.

Ngez702 on Sun, 11th Apr 2010 3:24 pm

This is so true, im not into politics because i never followed them, but even a fool can see the damage thats being done by some of the ANC leaders to our country. Our fathers fought for the freedom we have today and now with malema’s statements and song, we’re going backwards instead of celebrating the beautiful cultures and people we have in our country. I have 2 young kids and im afraid for them, im afraid of what our country will be like when they’re all grown up. Its a vicious circle, we went through it must our children go through it too? Then if thats the case we are not free..

Lulu on Sun, 11th Apr 2010 7:56 pm

Like in any other company or business,if yo leader or manager lacks leadership skills,surely the wont b any future for the company. Malema knws that Zuma wont do anything 2 him because Zuma clearly has no control ova his staff. On other other side in happy this Malema & ET thing is out,its clear that RSA is still very racist. I cant believe the comments made by some white people. How many of them have streched their arms in reconciling with us? ET what was he doing employing a 15yr old..child labour rings a bell?

Bee on Sun, 11th Apr 2010 11:12 pm

What i do not understand is that afrikaaners still have/use those old flag that were used during apartheid era but a black person shouldnt have/sing the songs were sang that time ja neh. Messed up!

Bill Antrim on Mon, 12th Apr 2010 6:24 pm

I am White, male, 46 years old and I am an African Person. I never saw the inside of a Whites-only school because I was brought up in Zambia and Botswana. When I arrived in SA looking for work and a life in 1987 I did not understand anything of what was happening here, but I soon learnt.
I learnt that White security people were shooting black freedom fighters, there was bombing and killing and secrecy and ugly murder and I came to have a small understanding of what apartheid was. Its evil in ways many people never understand: Its evil just because Black people often assume I supported it JUST because I’m white and the right age….I can go on and on.

BUT NOW we are in 2010. Mr Mandela walked free in 1994. Why are we still fighting the race war?
Why is it STILL important to some people to sing Struggle songs about the oppressor, and Why do some white folk still think its important to wave old flags from a dead regime?

We need freedom of speech, freedom of expression. Its wrong and stupid and dangerous to start taking people to court because of what they merely SAY…or print..or sing. This will lead us back to where we started…Oppressed, afraid and Imprisoned. BUT…we are still paying a price. African People are still paying for the costs of Apartheid…and PART of that cost might be……we need to cool our mouths….take down our flags, as we put away our guns. How can we be reconciled if we are still hurling insults?
B.A.

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Singing In Unity

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