How Jonas Gwangwa used his music to preserve his mother tongue
As young reporters at the
Sunday Times back in the ’90s we were assigned to interview prominent South Africans for the paper’s Christmas edition. One of the people on my list was the legendary musician, composer and cultural activist Dr Jonas Gwangwa. To say I was intimidated by the name would be an understatement.
I dialed the number and someone, a young woman, answered the phone. She asked me to hold on. After a few moments a man greeted me in a firm, rather intimidating voice from the end of the line.