By Motlagae Konyana
January 2019 marks the140th anniversary of the Isandlwana Battle – AngloZulu war which too place on the 22 January 1879. The Isandlwana Battle is where 24 000 African soldiers overwhelmed and defeated a British camp near the Isandlwana Mountain, led by the great Zulu King Cetshwayo. This battle is recorded as the British Army’s greatest defeat in Africa. The armed confrontation is recorded as the only time where the British colonialists suffered a decisive defeat, despite their sophisticated weaponry.
The award-winning musician and African historian Mbuso Khoza celebrated and brought the African triumph of the historical battle of 1879 to life through music at the weekend. With Isandlwana Lecture: The Musical, Khoza brought his signature musicality and storytelling proves to the stage in aid of this important history. The special three-day lecture was magical, and informative.
“I did a critical research calledAmaHubowhich focus on indigenous music that used to be composed during the 1960s, these songs are associated with who we are,” Mbuso Khoza explains how Isandlwana Lecturecame about.
A Nguni state of mind is sense of knowing self is the same Nguni state of mind that helped and carried our forefathers to conquer the British.
“Isandlwana Lecture: The Musicalwas an incredible experience. Through music, I was able to learn so much about my cultural background and where my forefathers as a Zulu man come from,” says Minenhle who attended one of the shows.
Khoza’s dream is to preserve our culture and always have a Nguni state of mind, which will help us triumph challenges, difficulties and political differences and in our cultural arts.
