His first guitar was made from an oil can and fishing line. Vusi Mahlasela grew up in Mamelodi, the township outside Pretoria, and built the instrument himself because he could not afford a real one. Years later, he sang at Nelson Mandela’s inauguration as president of South Africa.
Mamelodi
Mahlasela was born in 1965 in Lady Selborne, near Pretoria, and grew up in Mamelodi, where he still lives. Township life shaped his music: the choirs, the street songs and the politics.
Waking up
The Soweto uprising of 1976, when students protested against being taught in Afrikaans and police opened fire, politicised a generation. Mahlasela was among them. He began writing protest songs and poetry and joined cultural groups linked to the anti-apartheid movement.
Harassed and detained
His songs brought trouble. Mahlasela was repeatedly harassed by the police and held in solitary confinement because of his music. Like many South African artists of the time, he faced the risk that every performance might be his last.
When You Come Back
His debut album, When You Come Back, was released in the early 1990s, as apartheid was ending. The title song was dedicated to exiled political leaders and activists who were returning home after decades away. It became an anthem of the transition, a song of welcome to people the country had lost.
The inauguration
On 10 May 1994, Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa’s first democratically elected president. Mahlasela performed at the ceremony. He has said he was proud and humbled to sing that day. The same year, he released his second album, Wisdom of Forgiveness, reflecting Mandela’s approach to building a new South Africa.
The Voice
South Africans call Mahlasela “The Voice”. His singing is high, clear and full of emotion, and his guitar style mixes folk, mbaqanga and jazz influences. His songs are often gentle but carry hard messages about memory, justice and reconciliation.
ATO Records and the world
In 2003, the American musician Dave Matthews signed Mahlasela to his label, ATO Records, bringing his music to North American audiences. He toured internationally and appeared in the documentary Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony, about music in the struggle against apartheid.
Ambassador
Mahlasela became an ambassador for Mandela’s HIV/AIDS campaign 46664, named after Mandela’s prison number. He has received South African music awards for his lifetime contribution. His songs began in a township under apartheid and ended up at the ceremony that buried it.
