EDWIN NAIDU
South Africa’s heritage would be incomplete without mentioning the iconic Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse. Now 71, the internationally renowned musician from Soweto continues to perform with zest. He is an integral part of the country’s musical heritage – and remains a legendary role model to mature and younger fans.
It all began in 1966 in Orlando West, the stomping ground of not one but two Nobel laureates, former South African president Nelson Mandela and apartheid activist and churchman Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Mabuse performed with friends during a school fund-raising concert at Orlando West High School in Soweto. Five decades later, the love Mabuse received as a school band member has since snowballed along with his legendary reputation. His bright, shining star is linked to his hometown via the 1986 hit Jive Soweto.
When his Eighties band Harari split, Mabuse’s debut, Burn Out, became an international hit, earning him a R1.5 million deal with Virgin Records, founded by Sir Richard Branson.
Record sales multiplied as he toured the world. Mabuse’s musical heritage hits the right notes. He comes from a musical family; his coal merchant dad played harmonica. Baba Manuel, a neighbour, inspired him to take up drumming. It helped that some of the country’s best-known exponents with the sticks, like Early Mabuza, Gordon Mfandu and Gerald Khoza, set him on the way up.
With the limelight keeping him busy, Mabuse still needed to complete matric. Eleven years ago, at 60, he decided to change that. Mabuse returned to school in 2012 to achieve matric at the Peter Lengene Community Learning Centre in Soweto.
That was a momentous achievement which inspired learners throughout the country. Several popular brands signed him up to promote learning as a result.
Mabuse has performed throughout the country to celebrate Heritage Month and plays a concert in Botswana in October.
On his website, there is an explanation of how this humble son of the Soweto soil got the nickname “Hotstix”.
If you’re wondering about the “Hotstix”, the explanation is simple and charming. Playing at a gig years back in a hall, the lights suddenly went out, but Mabuse, on the drums, was the only musician able to continue playing, which he did for the next 20 minutes. One of his fellow band members approached him afterwards and said: “Hey, hot sticks”, and it stuck.
MY FAVOURITE TEACHER
Asked the name of his favourite teacher, Mabuse recalls it was a Mr Lepesa when he was in Grade 3 at Tsholomani Higher Primary School in Soweto.
“I don’t know his first name. In those days, we called our teachers Mr. and Mrs., whatever the surname was.”
“When he was in front of the class, he became an animated teacher, and the way he expressed himself, you could tell that he enjoyed teaching and had a way with words.
“In those days, one teacher would teach us several subjects. He taught us English, Sesotho and Arithmetic (mathematics).
“Mr Lepesa never meted out corporal punishment. He would shout but never at any stage strike a child, bearing in mind that teachers were allowed to punish children in those days.
“I remember a woman teacher would hit us with a steel ruler on our fingers in those days. I really disliked her. She was always ready to hit us.”
“But Mr. Lepesa made us love school. I always looked forward to attending school because of him, to watch him teach and the elegant way he used the language.
“He would inspire me to understand the language better. I was often picked to read in class.
“One day a few years ago, he came home to visit me. I was overjoyed. We sat and chatted on my stoep. Our conversation was on equal terms, and I kept referring to him as Sir to remind him that my favourite subject was English.”
Mabuse told Inside Education that teachers have a crucial role in society. “What would we know without teachers? They shape what we know; without them, you cannot have scientists or doctors.
“Teaching is power in itself because it provides the knowledge to fire up society.”
INSIDE EDUCATION
