The musical Inkosi Ushaka: King Shaka at Linder Auditorium on Heritage Day gives a moment of reflection
By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor
On Heritage Day as many people wore the colourful garb representing their various cultures both authentic and adopted while enjoying braai meat (sorry for the suffering cows, I chose to do something different. Not judging those that spend the days braaing and drinking as it is their choice how they wanted to mark this day. Just Saying for me I chose to do something that personally I believed was meaningful. Again, a personal choice.
When I made up a decision to attend Inkosi Uhaska: King Shaka: A Vision. A Nation, A Destiny at Linder Auditorium on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, it was with a heavy heart. On one hand I was excited, and even looked forward to it, for I love to listen and watch a performance of classical music. It calms me, it restores me spiritually, especially if I have been doing something that is hedonistic – attending parties, dancing to pop sounds or simply drinking with friends on the side of excess. I had done all that in recent weeks, with attending exhibition after exhibition, pop concert after pop concert, and not to mention the after parties associated with the recent iteration of the annual FNB Art Fair. The fact is after all these things, I felt my energy was depleted. I felt my sort debased and needed reloading. As fa as I am concerned nothing beats attending a classical musical performance, an opera production for that is what Inkosi Uhaska: King Shaka: whose music was composed by the hugely talented composer Warren Bessey is.
I really enjoyed the musical and the story of Shaka, his rise and fall under the hand of his half brother Dingane with the assistance of his aunt Mkabayi. Watching Scene8, the assassination moment and listening to the music that accompanied and accentuated the impact of the tragedy, a loss of human life, the demise of a fighter who changed the course of history in Southern Africa in the 18th Century, was a touching moment.
Watching and hearing the Gauteng Choristers, accompanied by a full Orchestra of the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring soloists Andile Dlamini, Rheinaldt Moagi, Siphokazi Maphumulo with a powerful narration of the story by Ntokozo Ngcobo deliver the last moment that marked the assassination was a touching moment. We were transported to the scene, the moment and the atmosphere that may have prevailed at that moment of the assassination.
To start with, at that very moment of the assassination, the music fell, almost fading into a mournful tone, in the process taking the imagination of the audience into also a mournful plane. That was a powerful way of musically describing the spectacular fall of a once powerful man, a King who changed the trajectory of Southern African history by his now legendary warrior tactics and strategies. But as we were slowly absorbing the moment, we were suddenly jolted into another mood when the music suddenly rose, with that lifting our moods into yet another spiritual plane, injecting a new energy, a hopeful energy enveloped us. That moment was a musical description of the rising again of the Zulu nation despite of the tragic loss of their King.
I Thought the composer did a pretty good job here.
By this time you are probably wondering why I mentioned in the introduction of this article that I went there with a heavy heart when I actually enjoyed so much and that I looked forward to it.
This is partly personal and partly historical. I must however state that I do not for a moment regret deciding to celebrate Heritage Day by attending the musical for that was actually a proper way of marking the day. I had even asked a friend to accompany me to the event, for they identify themselves as Zulu and I do identify myself as Tsonga/Shangaan. In fact, this is where it gets tricky because of the historical events that entangled these two great nations of Southern Africa. Some of that entanglement is positive indeed, but some of it is bad, really bad.
And so, when the friend could not make it, I was somehow disappointed, but accepted the explanation, after all the other competing things happening on a day like this so one cannot hold a grudge against those who do not honour an invitation. Personally, I would have loved to see their reaction to this musical given our two ethnic groups’ entangled history. For example, would they see, feel and interpret the musical in the same way that I did? I am talking about my friend here.
You see Shaka’s place in history is a contested space. And here I am not talking about the now well beaten route of Western historians who only told one side of Shaka, and that is that he was blood thirst and ready to trample and walk over small nations, with no regard for their existence. Yes, he was ruthless in his quest for conquest. But this was done to expand his political influence by incorporating other nations into what was call today the Zulu Nation, his ethnic group.
But did he succeed? Absolutely that is. The answer I would argue here is no and yes. I will explain. For example, today people talk about the Tsongas, my ancestors as having been conquered by one of Shaka Zulu’s run-away General, Soshangaan, who wanted to establish his own Kingdom, a sort of another Zulu Kingdom away from Shaka Zulu’s Kingdom by fighting and defeating especially small ethnic groups such as the Tsonga ethnic groups in Southern Africa. Yes, he did defeat and tried to assimilate them into Zulu culture under his and the generals that he came with from Zululand, and hence today, we have people who are Tsonga/Shangaan. But did he succeed in his assimilation quest? I will argue that the answer is no. In fact, it is the other way round, hence among the broad Tsonga ethnic group you will find surnames such as Ngwenya, Masondo, Khoza/Khosa among several others who not only identify themselves strongly as Tsonga, but have for all practical reasons become that as generations and generations of their ancestors assimilated into the broad Tsonga culture and identity. I the process losing their Zulu identity and adopting the Tsonga identity of the so-called conquered nation.
This reminds me of how I only discovered years later with the knowledge that comes with education, and that is that a close family relative (He married my two aunts, my mother’s sisters, (and yes, in Tsonga culture of years gone by you could marry sisters), that with a name like Dumezulu, he clearly has Zulu ancestory. This is despite the fact that we have always taken for granted that he in fact is Tsonga/Shangaan. Actually, he and his children identify themselves as such for that is who they are. Identity is therefore fluid and therefore you are who you believe you are.
And so even though the chair next to me in the Linder Auditorium, remained empty for the duration of the show, with some people passing a pitting glance at me as they applauded this beautifully done musical, I was happy that I celebrated Heritage Day this way this year. It gave me an opportunity to reflect on the complex issue of identity and why today I identify myself interchangeably as Tsonga and Shangaan. We have a proud and rich heritage indeed.
What a wonderful musical Inkosi Ushaka is. I would watch it again, especially because we only had an opportunity to watch it till Scene 8, whereas the full musical goes up to Scene 13.