Say Africa - Vusi Mahlasela

Vusi Mahlasela is many things. He is a vocalist, an excellent guitar player, an activist, a speaker of seventeen languages, and a poet. But most of all, Vusi Mahlasela is a positive, optimistic force. Throughout his colorful life, Vusi has been writing verses to inspire and motivate people to at least be hopeful, if nothing else. Growing up during the time of Apartheid, Vusi was exposed to the disparities that plagued his country. He wrote music that became anthems among the people in South Africa in their fight for equality and the end of Apartheid. 

Vusi names his first political experience as the Soweto Uprising in 1976. Recently, the government had mandated that Afrikaans be the primary language for giving lessons in all schools. Hundreds high school students revolted in protest of the mandate because they felt that using only Afrikaans in schools would result in a huge loss of South African culture. Many children protested in June of 1976 and as a result, literally hundreds of them were shot and killed by the police. Vusi Mahlasela, who was around eleven years old at the time, records this event as an “eye-opening” experience for him. “I began asking questions,” he says, “and that’s when my political education really began.”

As Vusi’s life continued, his political endeavors grew past merely asking questions. Mahlasela began writing songs about the political scene in South Africa, about hope, revolution, and freedom. He joined the Ancestors of Africa and the Congress of South African Writers, both groups of poets, artists, and writers with the same ideas of a new age in South Africa. Because he was a part of these groups, Vusi Mahlasela began to organize and occasionally protest. His songs were also becoming increasingly popular as symbols of a revolution. Because of this, he was detained by the police and arrested multiple times. Vusi was even held in solitary confinement because of the music he was creating and sharing. 

Eventually, after the end of Apartheid, Vusi Mahlasela was signed to Shifty Records/BMG records and shortly after, released his first album. The title song of the album, “When You Come Back”, became very popular after Mahlasela performed it during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Vusi Mahlasela also performed the song at Nelson Mandela’s presidential inauguration years earlier. He appeared in the documentary film, Amandla! A Revolution in Four Part Harmony, about the strength of music during Apartheid and was even honored with an honorary doctorate from Rhodes University. Vusi is also the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the South African Music Awards (SAMA). 

Vusi Mahlasela is a highly accomplished artist with many achievements under his belt. Because of these achievements, Vusi has been able to travel the world and sing with many other accomplished artists. Throughout his career, Mahlasela’s music stays constantly vibrant and inspiring, a beacon of happiness and optimism through troubled times. He has never written a piece of music without some message of hope, and we can expect that he never will. This is something I greatly admire in Vusi Mahlasela. He has experienced much more tragedy than I can even begin to imagine, yet his attitude has always been that of a positive one. For further research of Mahlasela, I would visit his official website, and this page  with an article from NPR on the artist. 

Kayla R-P
1A 

Sources: 

Mahlasela, Vusi. "Vusi Mahlasela: "Thula Mama"" 2007 TED. Speech.

"Vusi Mahlasela." Vusi Mahlasela. Vusi Mahlasela, n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2013

"World Cafe/Vusi Mahlasela: Freedom Songs." World Cafe. NPR, 22 May 2007. Radio.