Obits
WITS UNIVERSIT Y FONDLY REMEMBERS THOSE WHO HAVE PASSED AWAY
Sibongile Khumalo
1957-2021
[BA Hons 1983, HDipPM 1984]
In the sleeve notes of her 2005 eponymously titled album, beloved vocalist and musician Sibongile Khumalo writes about a formative experience she had around the age of 13, when her father made her listen to Constance Magogo kaDinuzulu, the Zulu princess and musician known for her prowess as singer and composer. “My dad made me sit at her feet to listen to her play ugubhu and sing. At the time it did not make sense to me, but I had to obey. I thought he was being very unkind to me because all the other children were out in the yard playing. It must have been destiny. In my professional years the music came back and it began to make sense.” Khumalo was introduced to music at the age of eight. Guided predominantly by her father’s influence, Sibongile studied violin, singing, drama and dance under Emily Motsieloa, a pianist and leader of an all-women’s band and influential musical personality in township circles. Her parents Grace and Khabi Mngoma were active community members involved in cultural upliftment, and instilled in her an abiding love and appreciation for South African music. Her mother, Grace Mngoma (née Mondlane) worked as a nursing sister. Her father, Professor Khabi Mngoma (DMus honoris causa 1987), was an historian and professor of music at the University of Zululand, honoured by Wits in recognition of his service to the culture of the nation and its music. She inherited her father’s passion for education and earned two undergraduate degrees from Wits and University of Zululand — she received honorary doctorates from the University of Zululand, Rhodes, and Unisa and will posthumously receive one from Wits. She held 80 W I T S R E V I E W
teaching and administration positions at the Federated Union of Black Artists Academy and Madimba Institute of African Music in Soweto. In 1993, she won the Standard Bank Young Artist Award at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival and she released her debut album in 1996, Ancient Evening. Over the next two decades she released a steady stream of albums, earning four South African Music Awards and garnering three Vita Awards for her stage performances. She was awarded the Order of Ikhamanga in Silver in 2008 in recognition of her ‘’excellent contribution to the development of South African art and culture in the musical fields of jazz and opera’’. In 2013 the Naledi Theatre Awards bestowed Khumalo with the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her talents in acting, opera, jazz, teaching and being a strong activist for the advancement of theatre in South Africa. Her work transcended genre, moving easily between traditional South African indigenous music, to opera and jazz, with equal aplomb. She sang in major venues around the world including the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Festival Hall, the Barbican Centre, the Kennedy Centre in Washington and Ronnie Scott’s in London. Ahead of her performance at the Joy of Jazz Festival in 2019, Johannesburg, Khumalo said that no matter the symbolism, her main commitment was to the singularity of her own voice. “While exposing yourself and opening yourself up to what is out there, it is also important to remain true to yourself, so that even when you allow yourself to be influenced by others, you retain an identity that clearly defines you,” she said. “It is the truth in what you express, and how you express it, that is paramount.” Khumalo died on 28 January at the age of 63, preceded in death by her husband Siphiwe in 2005. She leaves behind her daughter Ayanda; two sons Tshepho and Siyabonga; and bereft music lovers. Sources: Wits archives, The New York Times, The Conversation
