South African Female Jazz Icons and Victims of Music

By Quibell Ramantswana , 02 Jun 2010

The Late Miriam MakebaWhen speaking about life in the days of yore ; some people remain confident that watching documentaries or reading historical books is more appropriate to understanding the past. But according to the polls, surprisingly, our grandparents are the best living souls to tell us of bygone days.

They may have told you about how they survived without having electricity, professional doctors and nurses, a medical card, tap water, maxi taxis, and about the music they used to listen to.

Talking about music in South Africa, around the 1940s and on - it was unfeasible to resist the temptations of bringing up the “P” word (Politics) into the conversation. Understandably, it was the darkest time of South African black citizenry, as the leaders struggled to communicate peacefully.

“we will go down in history as an army that spent a lot of time singing, rather than fighting.”

As stated by our grandparents, especially abo-magreezer (grannies) - music and singing was the powerful source of communication; Jazz music was the most reliable messenger that brought courage, hope and comfort to the nation.
During this period, there were numbers of ladies who bravely volunteered to stand up on the front line using their singing talent: The late Miriam Makeba, The late Sophie Mgcina, The late Dolly Rathebe, Dorothy Masuka (Zimbabwean born) and Thandi Klaasen amongst them.

It was such a huge responsibility taken by these idols as the nation relied on their singing expertise. Luckily every other black woman instantly became their backing vocalists in support of their leading singers.
Traditionally, an African woman’s job was to cook and look after her husband. Exactly that! Not singing in front of the whole nation. Most local men were reluctant to pay attention to women’s voices.

Soon after songs such as Pata Pata, Khauleza, Mayibuye, Sophiatown, and Meadowlands became unofficial national anthems; the local South African man as well as other male African counterparts swallowed their pride and eventually responded positively with Bass and Turner in their tunes.

It was extraordinary to see South African women and men bravely supporting each other, and singing for the same reasons, HOPE and FAIRNESS! It was then that the Simunye (‘We Are One’) slogan was secretly invented, and later revealed to the nation, after the apartheid era.

It was the first time, probably the last, in musical history when woman sang for a rather unusual cause. Ordinarily, women sing for glamour, the red carpet and fame; nevertheless, these woman vowed not to sing for those obvious reasons but for their country, South Africa.

Almost every song they performed was all about the Republic of South Africa. People across the world begun to understand South African’s reality after they listened and watched videos of these womens songs.

Since then, we have seen them performing around the world continent educating the global community about South African history through their music. Furthermore, they’re still the most travelled female musicians in the country - something that seems to be taking forever for our generation to achieve.

Despite the fact that their lives were overshadowed by the apartheid era our grandparents reckon these idols’ music didn’’t just save their lives; it also brought some cheerful moments which always transformed all tears of problems into tears of happiness.

And dancing to their songs was the only preferable method of exercising. They claimed they pioneered the Toyi Toyi dance (slightly different to Diski Dance) in local Townships; A unisex dance that needs a group of three people or so….

During their happiest moments, it is said that every home could turn into a night club; flashing lights were not necessary on the dance floor; dancing wearing shoes was not compulsory; all that was required were more popular tunes sung by their female heroes.

Their music might not be topping the charts on local radio stations, but their music videos are still watched by many people on You Tube worldwide.

Recently, we’ve celebrated Meriam Makebas life, and the question that most South Africans ask themselves is what should my country remember me for? Our female icons passionately sung, sung and sung for freedom! Such are their unerasable memories.

We all know South African history wouldn’t make sense without their music. FACT!

As Hugh Masekela once said, as victims of music: “we will go down in history as an army that spent a lot of time singing, rather than fighting.”