MPHUTLANE WA BOFELO

Music played an important role in the activities of the liberation movement in South Africa\ Azania. The liberation movement used music to educate, rouse and mobilize people in the struggle against settler-colonialism and racial-capitalism and for social, political, economic and gender justice, equality and equity. The thematic concerns of the freedom songs ranged from lamentations expressing the sorrow and anguish – or rather the blues – of a people dealing with subjugation, powerlessness and hopelessness to commentaries, expositions and descriptions of life under apartheid-capitalism. 

The themes extended to songs of hope about ultimate and certain victory, songs articulating the dreams and visions of what the new society would look like; praise-songs to the leaders, the imprisoned and the exiled; and elegies and epics honouring, remembering, memorializing, and celebrating the martyrs. Stylistically and aesthetically, the freedom songs drew from Christian hymns, African classical (traditional) music and folklore, contemporary music and the freedom songs from the struggles of the African people in the US and the world over. 

The adaptation of Christian hymns into freedom songs could be as the result of the influences of Liberation Theology, Contextual Theology, Black Theology and African theology and the fact that many Africans in South Africa fuse Christian beliefs and practices with African beliefs and practices. Some of the songs were imported and adapted from the movements that supported and trained the various sections of the liberation movement or that these South African \ Azanian movements shared the trenches with. As a result of the shared experiences of the various sections of the liberation movement, there are many freedom songs that all of them sang and which are difficult to label as songs of a specific section. 

However, differences in organizational culture, philosophy and ideology and other dynamics that shaped each section give individual songs their own diction, accent and color, in one way or another. On the other hand, there were songs peculiar to certain sections of the liberation movement. Similarly, there were poets that were associated with specific organizations or whose poetry made more appeal to specific organizations. These organizations then incorporated such poems into the repertoire of their freedom songs.

It is against this background that this essay focuses on the religio-spiritual symbolism and invocation of martyrs of Black Consciousness in Azanian freedom songs. In the context of this essay, the description Azanian Freedom songs applies specifically to songs sung by Black Consciousness organizations or the freedom songs as rendered by the BC organizations. The focus on religio-spiritual symbolism and invocation of the spirit of the martyrs is to underline the fact that in the struggle for physical and psychological liberation people often appropriate the songs and symbols of different religious and cultural traditions and infuse them with the incantations and cries of the yearning for freedom.

In Azania, the freedom songs enlisted, and continue to enlist, the views upheld by the Abrahamic religion about the sacredness of the blood of the martyr and African ideas about the continuity of life and the function of the departed as spirit mediums in their memorialisation of the martyrs and heroes and heroines of the struggle. This informed the evoking the names\spirit of the martyrs for the courage and wisdom of the living to pursue the struggle against all odds and by all means and avenues at their disposal. The deaths, funerals and memorials of activists often served as moments to rekindle the fire of resistance through oratory, poetry, song and movement.

Every meeting, conference, workshop, rally and march became an occasion to remember the fallen and recall their names and deeds both as an act of keeping them alive and calling upon their undying spirit to strengthen and protect people in their struggle. In this way, oratory, song and movement also functioned as a means to connect the past, the present and the future.

The  memorial and commemoration songs of the Black Consciousness Movement

In the very early years of its existence, the Black Consciousness Movement had to deal with the assassination and killing of its prominent theorists and activists by the apartheid regime and its agents. Mapetla Mohapi was killed in detention by the police in 1972. Onkgopotse Ramothibi Tiro was killed by a parcel bomb in Botswana in 1974. Mthuli ka Shezi was thrown in front of a moving train by white racists after he had stood up to them in defense of Black women who were victims of harassments by the white racists in 1976, and Bantu Stephen Biko was brutally murdered by the police in detention in 1977. Between the 1980s and 1990s the killings of Black consciousness activists increased. In this period the Black Consciousness Movement was burying its members almost on a daily basis throughout the country. 

It is therefore not surprising that many songs within the repertoire of songs associated with the BCM are songs that are either sending off a departed member or paying tribute to fallen members of the BCM. In this section we focus on songs that are usually sung at the funeral and memorial services of BC activists and the religio-spiritual message and political significance of such songs.

The most popular songs sung at Black Consciousness funerals are “myekeleni ahambe” (let him go), “Let my Soul go Deeper \ Depart my soul”, “Long live mother Azania, Long live-comrade ..” The lyrics of myekeleni ahambe are as follows:

myekeleni ahambeMyekeleni ahambe, a bhekekuQamata
myekeleni ahambeAyobona bo Steve Biko‘
Ayodibana nabo Steve Biko bahlezi noQamata,

(Let him\her go
Let him\her go Qamata (The Creator)
Let him\her go to meet Steve Biko and others)

This song is intended to comfort the family, relatives, friends and comrades of the deceased by emphasizing that the departed person has not “passed away” but has “passed on” on to another realm of life to meet the Creator and reunite with the martyrs and those who have passed to the highest realm of existence. This is informed by the African belief in the continuity of life and the notion of the Abrahamic faiths that people who die in the path of justice and truth do not die, they become martyrs and martyrs live forever.

In unpacking the lyrics of this song, it is important to remember the concept of hell does not exist in the African belief systems because of the belief that all departed souls ascend to the highest realm (lehodimong\ ezulwini) to reunite with the Supreme Essence or the Highest Being. According to African beliefs, the spirit (life-force) of human beings is interred in their bodies. Consequently, the sending off of a dead person is a significant ceremony and moment for the spirit of the dead person to go in peace and at peace with him or her to the highest realm. Part of this sending off is for the next-of-kin to make peace with the death of their beloved ones and conduct all the ceremonies required to send them off to the highest realm in a dignified manner. This is articulated by the refrain of the song, “Myekeleni ahambe, bhekekuQamata”, meaning “Let him go (in peace)”.

The assurance and comfort is in the fact that the person is returning home to meet the creator and reunite with family, next-of-kin, friends and comrades who are in the highest realm. Accordingly, the song beseeches people to be at peace and let the departed soul reunite with the Steve Bikos, Motlalepula Kgwares, Abu Asvats and George Jacksons in revolutionary heaven.

The song, “Let my soul go deeper\ Depart my soul” gives voice to the departed \ departing person. It expresses the fact that the departed person – or the departing soul – has not passed away but is passing on to another realm of existence:

Let my soul go deeper to find the Black nation
Let my soul go deeper to find the Black nation
Let my soul go deeper to find the Black nation

Aluta continua, Amandla Awethu  Aluta continua, Amandla Awethu
Aluta continua, Amandla Awethu….

Depart my soul, go deeper
to form the black nation
Depart my soul, go deeper
To form the black nation
Depart my soul, go deeper
To form the black nation

Aluta continua, Amandla Awethu
Aluta continua, Amandla Awethu
Aluta continua, Amandla Awethu

On the other hand, Beautiful Azania \ Rest in peace comrade was born in exile as an expression of the longing of the combatants of the members of the exiled Black Consciousness Movement of Azania (BCMA) and combatants of the Azanian National Liberation Army (AZANLA) for South Africa, and their vow not to forget nor betray the Motherland. As death visited them in exile or news of the killings and deaths of their fellow comrades inside the country reached them, they incorporated words of farewell to their comrades in the song. The moment where the BC activists are crossing the country to exile or where the freedom fighter is crossing over to heaven is articulated by the cry:

Set me free mother Azania
Set me free mother Azania
Set me free, I shall never forget you
Set me free mother Azania

The moment where the combatants are in exile, thinking of their homeland is captured by the words:

Beautiful Azania, Beautiful Azania,
we  shall never forget you, beautiful Azania
Beautiful Azania, Beautiful Azania,
we shall never forget you, beautiful Azania
Beautiful Azania, beautiful Azania,
we shall never betray you, beautiful Azania
Beautiful Azania, beautiful Azania,
we shall never betray you, beautiful Azania

The invocation of peace on the soul of the departed \departing comrade and supplication for him\her to go in peace to the highest realm is expressed as follows:

Rest in Peace comrade Steve Biko
Rest in Peace comrade Steve Biko
Rest in peace, we shall never forget you
Rest in peace comrade Steve Biko

Often, at the funerals of BCM activists these songs would be hummed and someone in the audience would burst into poetry, the songs serving as a backdrop to the poetry. The poets who were often featured in these gatherings or whose works would be recited by others included Ingoapele Madingoane, Farouk Asvat, Maishe Maponya, Mandla Langa, Don Materra, Mafika Gwala, and Duma ka Ndlovu. The song most popular at commemoration of 21 March, 1960 massacre, June 16, 1976 uprising etc or at the funerals of comrades killed by the apartheid regime was:

ba bolaile Biko wa rona
ba bolaile Biko wa rona
Biko wa rona, Biko wa rona
ba tshwanetswe ke ho bolawa
ba tshwanetswe ke ho bolawa
ho tla ho busa Ma-Azania
ho tla busa MaAzania
ho tla busa MaAzania

They killed our (beloved)  Biko
They killed our Biko, our (beloved) Biko, our (beloved) Biko
They deserve to be killed
They deserve to be killed
The Azanian people shall govern
The Azanian people shall govern
The Azanian people shall govern

Ba bolaile MaAzania Ba bolaile MaAzania
Ba bolaile MaAzania
Ke Le granje le Malan
Ke Le Granje le Malan
Ba tshwanetswe ke ho bolawa
Ho tle ho buse MaAzania
Ho tle buse MaAzania
Ho tle buse MaAzania
Ho tle buse MaAzania

They killed the Azanian people
They killed the Azanian people
They killed the Azanian people
It is Le Granje and Malan
It is Le Granje and Malan
They deserve to be killed
They deserve to be killed
For the Azanian people to govern
for the Azanian people to govern
for the Azanian people to govern
for the Azanian people to govern

The theme of this song is that the blood of massacred and martyred Azanians cannot be in vain, their death must be avenged and the liberation they died for attained. In other words, the song vows by the blood and souls of the martyrs that the regime of apartheid-colonialism shall be defeated and the people of Azania shall govern.     

Alongside, Mandla Langa’s “They no longer speak to us in song”, the most popular poems chosen by BC activists for recital at these gatherings were Ingoapele Madingoane’s “Africa my Beginning” and “Black trial.” The following extract from Black trial was\is normally recited at funeral services:

it is has been my wish and it is still my wish
that whatever happens between me and Africa when we part ways
it would not be through cowardice or should I say the betrayal of my beloved father land
I could be glad if I am buried like a true African of true African traditions
When I take my soul to its destination
When the gong of departure reaches my eardrum
And the clouds of death dominates my eyes
Wrap me safely with the hide of an African ox
I will be glad
Deliver me to the ancestral village
Cast no flowers on my soil I am an African
As for beauty I never had a time to admire it
Because Africa was not free
I will join the masses that went before me
And as one we shall fight
The ancestral war until justice is done

The poet’s vow to remain loyal to the Fatherland till death and to be buried in accordance with African traditions resonates with the resolve expressed in the lyrics of Beautiful Azania, not to betray the Motherland\Fatherland and  the spirit of self-identity and pride in being an African. The last three lines of the poem echo the idea – expressed in Depart my soul\ Let my soul go deeper – that the souls of fallen patriots or martyrs ascend to the higher realm to become spiritual forces on the side of the oppressed:

I will join the masses that went before me
And as one we shall fight
The ancestral war until justice is done

It does not require rocket science to understand why Madingoane was the most featured or recited poet at the gatherings of the Black Consciousness Movement. The undertones of Black Consciousness and Pan Africanism in his poetry are vivid. In his poetry, like in that of several BC poets, the political is spiritual and the spiritual is political, for the struggle of the Africans is to be completely free, physically, mentally and spiritually. Throughout his poems, Madingoane conjure memories of the glorious achievements of pre-colonial Africa, invoke the heroic anti-colonial struggles and summon the spirit of the martyrs and the ancestors and paint a picture of a free and liberated Azania. A typical example of this is Black trial 31, normally recited on commemorative events of the Black Consciousness Movement:

little hector died and africa went on mourning
for the other three onkgopotse mapetla and bantu biko
not forgetting the others as they said
ancestors of africa fulanis of nigeria jies of uganda easafrican mbutis abantus tirikis
you’ve taken away from us the spirits of your power as ancestors of africa
nigeria uganda congo & liberia
leaders have emerged without power sufficient to help africa shake off this burden
ancestors of africa
the strumming of tabane
the emphasis of bebyi
traditional cowhide sounds
from thobejane’s african drums
medupe’s meditations might have been enough music and message
in the service of all men
ancestors of africa ancestors of africa
oh hear our cries
the rivers and valleys have turned red fields
and bushes have gone bare
while you went to ask for a permit
tarzan was trekking our bases
ancestors of africa
your black gold has gone
colourful ancestors of africa ancestors of africa
oh hear our cries
in the heart of africa africans shall meet as one
and africa uta swemakiswahili
to seal the african bond
before i die
how i long to be there
in that part of you africa
to drink from the calabash umuthi we nkululeko
before i die how
i long to be there africa
where all of africa shall dance marabi from the beat malombo
while elders drink pombe from ikhamba eligayiwe o-makoti be-sizwe
before i die
how i long africa
to see strong warriors singing
and chanting songs of expectation on the african soil
i would be so glad if i too was one
before i die
how i long to be loved africa
by that african woman in africa
as lonely as the river nile
in the blazing sahara desert
waiting for the man of her heart
to slip on that cane-made ring
on the finger that points out the path
to our future
before i die
how i long africa o swema kiswahili
to appear african as africa
to have with me a family to love
i will be glad that i am black before i die

In exile, the poem famously recited by BCM activists at funerals and memorial services was “The Last Poem”, by Palestinian poet, Kamal Nasser who was killed by Israeli death squad on April 10, 1973. The poem was printed in one of the calendars of the then exiled BCMA, indicating the bond established between the BCM and the Palestinian people which started in the 1970s when Onkgopotse Tiro established links with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) before his brutal killing in 1974.

Beloved, if perchance word of my death reaches you
As, alone, you fondle my only child
Eagerly awaiting my return,
Shed no tears in sorrow for me
For in my homeland
Life is degradation and wounds
And in my eyes the call of danger rings.
Beloved, if word of my death reaches you
And the lovers cry out:
The loyal one has departed, his visage gone forever,
And fragrance has died within the bosom of the flower
Shed no tears…smile on life
And tell my only one, my loved one,
The dark recesses of your father’s being
Have been touched by visions of his people.
Splintered thoughts bestowed his path
As he witnessed the wounds of oppression.
In revolt, he set himself a goal
He became a martyr, sublimated his being even changed his prayers
Deepened their features and improvised
And in the long struggle his blood flowed
His lofty vision unfolded shaking even destiny.
If news reaches you, and friends come to you,
Their eyes filled with cautious concern
Smile to them in kindness
For my death will bring life to all;
My people’s dreams are my shrine at which I pray, for which I live.
The ecstasy of creation warms my being, shouting of joy,
Filling me with love, as day follows day,
Enveloping my struggling soul and body.
Immortalized am I in the hearts of friends
I live only in others’ thoughts and memories.
Beloved, if word reaches you and you fear for me
Should you shudder and your cheeks grow pale
As pale as the face of the moon,
Allow it not to look upon you, nor feast on the beauty of your gaze
For I am jealous of the light of the moon.
Tell my only one, for I love him,
That I have tasted the joy of giving
And my heart relishes the wounds of sacrifice.
There is nothing left for him
Save the sighs from my song…Save the remnants of my lute
Lying piled and scattered in our house.
Tell my only one if he ever visits my grave
And yearns for my memory,
Tell him one day I shall return to pick the fruits

The power and magnificence of Kamal’s poem lies in its interweaving of the personal and the public, its synthesis of the political and the spiritual, and the way in which the love, fidelity and devotion to the beloved ones is rendered inseparable from his dedication to the liberation of his people: “He became a martyr, sublimated his being even changed his prayers”. In other words, the last cry and breath of the martyr becomes a supplication for the freedom of his people. 

Interestingly, both Madingoane and Kamal end their poems with an indication that the spirit of the martyrs will return to arm the people in their fight for freedom and see guide them to the attainment of freedom. This stresses the belief in the continuity of life, the eternity of martyrs and the certainty of victory for the oppressed as articulated in the lyrics of the freedom songs cited above. Importantly, the songs and the poems highlight that material struggles are spiritual struggles and spiritual struggles are material struggles. Indeed spirituality and politics are inseparable. Ainslie McLeod amplifies the inseparability of spirituality and politics when he states:

Being a spiritual person means you are expressing old-soul values through action and words all the time, not just during times of crisis. True spirituality is about doing the work to ensure that everyone is treated equally, which is why spirituality and politics are inseparable.

Songs for the martyrs of Black Consciousness

In most religions and cultures of the world martyrs have a special place in heaven and act as guardian souls over those on the path of justice, truth, freedom, peace and love for humanity. In the Black Consciousness Movement circles, the martyrs and heroes and heroines of the struggle are akin to the Saints in the Abrahamic faiths and are the spirit mediums of the movement. Because of the prominent role he played as the voice and face of Black Consciousness in his time, and the centrality of his writings in the spread of Black Consciousness, Bantu Stephen Biko could be regarded as the principal Saint and martyr of Black Consciousness in Azania.

Kierkegaard’s statement that

“The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins”

finds expression in the eternal presence of Steve Biko and his ideas on the lips of the people of Azania, Africa and the world. Biko’s statement – uttered shortly before his martyrdom – that the way in which one dies for the struggle can be reawakening and conscientizing moment for the masses, proved to be prophetic. His death was followed by songs that invoke his brutal killing in prison and his spirit of no-surrender to rouse people to rebel and take action against an oppressive system:

Safika’Sanlam
Safika’Sanlam, sathola kuphalala igazi lomtomnyama
Yini maAfrika,
Yini Ma-AfrikaNithi aniyiboni incidizelo engakaNithi aniyiboni inhlupeko engaka

We arrived at Sanlam
We arrived at Sanlam, and found the blood of the black man flowing
What’s happening, Africans
What’s happening Africans
Don’t you see this heavy oppression
Don’t you see this heavy suffering?

Sanlam is the building where Steve Biko was tortured and left dead and naked, brain damaged, and from which he was driven at the back of the police van for thousands of kilometres to John Vorster square. This lyrics of the song convey to the people that the brutal killing of Biko is\was is an epitome of the totality of violence and suffering unleashed on the oppressed Black majority by the racist regime and subtly call on people to arise against oppression to end the suffering. 

While the regime thought that his killing would instil fear in the masses, the contrary happened. Black people attended his funeral in their multitudes, risking arrest and torture and daring death; singing at the top of their voices:

Steve Biko ke wa rona
Steve Biko ke wa rona
Ke wa rona
Ke wa rona
Ke wa rona

This is the voice of the people boldly claiming Biko as theirs, asserting that a man like Biko can only belong to the oppressed and can never be co-opted or silenced by the system nor can he ever be hijacked by the conformists and reformists. Hear the song of the children of the 1970s and the 1980s vouching to follow Biko at all costs and against odds:

Steve Biko wethu somlandela
Noma siyaboshwa, somlandela
Nomasiyahengwa, somlandela
Our Biko, we shall follow him
Even if we are imprisoned, we will follow him
Even if we are hanged, we will follow him

The generation of the 1970s and the 1980s did not just passively follow and invoke the name of Biko, Mapetla and Tiro. They upped the struggle at all fronts and gave the regime hell. Their songs reflected a clear resolve to ensure that the blood of the martyrs was not spilled in vain and that the oppressors shall meet their Waterloo:

Sithi phesheya komfula
Sizobabulala nezingan’zabo
Sithi phesheya komfula
Sizobabulala nezingan’zabo
Ilitye likaBiko linxonxozile, lizovulwangubani?

Beyond the river
We are going to kill them
With their children
Biko’s tombstone is calling
Who will unveil it

Reference to Biko’s tombstone and its unveiling has both a religio-spiritual and political significance because the tombstones of the martyrs are both monuments and shrines. People visit the graves of the martyrs to gather strength and rededicate themselves to continue with the fight for “the land back to the people, and the people back to themselves.” The Azanian songs of freedom are replete with reference to the idea of summoning the spirit of the martyrs and the belief that holding on to the resilient spirit of the martyrs guarantees victory:

Siyobe siphumelele
Siyobe siphumelele
Siyobe siphumelele kulomzabalazo
Ngoba sinano oBiko, sinabo oTiro Sinabo oMohapi kulomzabalazo
Siyobe siphumelele
Siyobe siphumele
Siyobe siphumelele kulomzabalazo
Ngoba sina bo Muntu, sina bo oMolala, sina no oNtloko kulomzabalazo

We will ultimately be victorious
We will ultimately be victorious
We will ultimately be victorious in this struggle
Because we are with Biko, we are with Tiro, we are with Mohapi in this struggle

This song articulates the undying belief of the people that the spirit of the martyrs is with them in the struggle and that victory is certain as long as they hold firm to the principles and ideas that Biko, Tiro and Mohapi (and others) lived and died for. This conviction that victory is certain does not mean that they think things will be easy. They know the trials and tribulations of the struggle. They are a witness to the absolute brutality of the system and the totality of its violence. But when things are tough, they remember the resilience of the martyrs and summon the spirit of the martyrs to give them courage to fight the enemy on all terrains:

Steve Biko iyo, Ilanga litshonile
Sizolalaphi
Sizohlala ehlathini njengezinyoni

Oh Biko, It’s sunset
Where are we going to sleep?
We are going to sleep in the bush like birds

The birds in this song symbolize the resolve not to surrender the dream of freedom and the bush is an allusion to exile or the trenches. Therefore, this song is far from being a mere lament. It is a clear resolve of the children of Black power to fight to the bitter end for freedom. As they summon the spirit of Biko, they answer their own question with a clear resolve to take up armed struggle. This is further articulated in the song, Goduka guerrilla (Go home, guerrilla):

Goduka guerrilla
Guerrilla sifuna kugoduka
Intonje mfo ka Abu (Asvat)
Sofele hlathini
iyo ha sakesayiboná into enje
Into enje ifuna sibham, ifuna bazooka
Woza siguduke
iyo sakesayiboná into enje

Go home, guerrilla
Guerrilla, we want to go home
A thing like this, Abu
We are going to die in the bush
We have seen a thing like this
A thing like this needs a gun
It needs a bazooka
Come, let’s go home

In the same way the Azanian Freedom songs summon the spirit of the martyrs and ancestors in the fight for freedom, they invoke the spirit of the martyrs and ancestors against betrayors and sellouts : 

Abasthengisayo, sizobabona namhlasithathi’ilizwe 
Amagana abaliwe, namhla sithathi’lizwe 
Amagama abaliwe
Hambanathi Steve Biko 
Sizobabona
namhla sithathi’lizwe 
Amagama abaliwe namhla sithathi’lizwe 
Amagama abaliwe 

Those who sold us out 
We are going to see / sort out 
The day we take the land 
The name are written 
The day we take the land 
Go with us Steve Biko 
The day we take the land
The names are written 
The day we take the land