By Jonk wa Mashamba
news@alexreporter.co.za
I had just taken a photo with my journalism mentor, Bishop Baloyi, in Malamulele, when suddenly the seasonal musician George Maluleke passed by.
” That is a story,” said Baloyi, referring to the legendary Tsonga Traditional muso who was walking with his guitar.
But in the blink of an eye, Father George, as some call him, was nowhere to be found . It was my loss, I thought.
Two days later, after the burial of my pastor, Ebenezer Mtileni of the Bethesda Christian Church, I went to Boxer to buy water, when I bumped into the iconic musician.
After I said hello to him, I introduced myself as a journalist who wanted an interview .
It was obvious that he had no time to entertain me, because I had hijacked his time without following proper channels .
As a clever, I had to remind him that I once played drums for him for free when former MLFN presenter Bheka Ntsanwisi with La Familiar in 2018 (an SABC 2 program) visited his family in Green Farm, Malamulele.
Because I played drums for him made him relax. We went to the store where he was doing the promotion of his album number 33.
Maluleke said emotionally that he has massively contributed to the music industry, but that meant nothing to others. “I want to be recognised like the other musicians.”
“It looks like emerging musicians are going to jump us and get recognized.
“To be honest, there are artists who will never be acknowledged, and their sin is unknown. All we are asking for is recognition, and we deserve to receive what others have received,” said Maluleke.
Although Maluleke has won 3 SAMA Awards , 1 SATMA Awards and also honored with Long Life Achievement Award by MLFM, you could tell that was not enough, considering what he has offered South Africa.
In his latest offering titled ‘Hloniphani Swi Yila’, he strongly cautions against a prohibition imposed by social custom.
“He says the forbidden lifestyle, which is considered taboo, acts as a protective measure to people, especially the young ones.
He said that a lot of young people were dying because they did not listen to the warnings.
“When the elders say it’s taboo, it’s actually prohibited and we shouldn’t do it.
“Nowadays young people die in numbers and we end up not knowing what the real cause is,” he said.
In this 13-track album, the father of 22 children has sung with his 5 wives.
He was worried that many young musos were too focused on programmed music and lazy to learn how to play an instrument.
One of his kids, Xichavo is an example of what Maluleke encourages young musos to do. His son is a widely known drummer.
He said tsonga musos were few who could play musical instruments.
The self-taught guitar player with a unique voice, encouraged the next musos to be original. He affirms that once an artist sings as his model, the authentic talent in him dies.
He told the youth to work hard, push and be determined toward their purpose.
“If things don’t go your , don’t ever quit. If things take longer, that doesn’t mean they’re not coming. Every artist, including me, has had a rough time,” added a businessman.
His album is available on social media.
