cheek nationalism, folk themes were aggrandized to imply one thing, while meaning another to the astute audience, and the ironic use of melodies could mislead the analyst expecting obvious meanings where suggestions were more obtuse (Byerly, 1998:14).
Furthermore, the protest musicians recognised the urgency of linguistic versatility, and being efficient in switching between ‘relevant and appropriate speech genres, codes’ (Byerly, 1998:26), and the use of patois and tsotsitaal. This was because ‘Linguistic competence played an enormously important role in cross-cultural communication within music in the late-apartheid era’ (Byerly, 1998:26). Therefore, in one of her record sleeve Makeba, (1988), confirms that,
In our struggle, songs are not simply entertainment for us. They are the way we communicate. The press, radio and TV are all censored by the government. So we make up songs to tell us about events. Let something happen and the next day a song will be written about it (Makeba, 1988).
In order to avoid arrest and censorship, the lyrics of the struggle songs had to communicate the struggle’s course of action. They therefore had to rely on their linguistic prowess in being cryptic, code-switch, multilingual, use of patois, or tsotsitaal, in order to ensure that the appropriate message has been communicated.
2.5 RELEVANCE OF INDIGENOUS WOMEN’S PROTEST MUSIC IN THE NEW
good and bad, joyful and sorrowful. We have sung in sadness as we endeavour to muster strength of dealing with harsh realities of pain and death. In different social contexts and situations, music has served and serves (Mbeki, 2006:3).
Mbeki (2006) further remarked that in a post-colonial and post-apartheid era, democratic South Africa, which is confronted with a different set of challenges ranging from matters of morality, criminal abuse of women and children, to poverty and destitution, society must ask what the role of our music is.
The Women’s Charter and Aims in 195423 claimed that: ‘The level of civilization which any society has reached can be measured by the degree of freedom that its members enjoy’, as well as the fact that ‘the status of women is a test of civilization’. Forty years later, in 1994, The Women’s Charter for Effective Equality (1994)24 acknowledged that ‘domestic violence and sexual violence are still pervasive, and women continue to live under the threat of violence, and continue to experience violence’. Therefore, if the ‘test for civilization’
espoused in the Women’s Charter and Aims (1954) were to be used to gauge how South Africa ranks, then the latest statistics pertaining to violence against women specifies that South Africa would still not be considered a civilized nation.25 However, women activists in the country maintain that the rate of gendered violence is in reality considerably higher since in their estimation only one rape is reported for every nine that are committed (Meldrum 2006:11). South Africa with a democratic constitution is considered low in the scale of civilized nations (Amien, 1995)26.
Following the demise of apartheid, most musicians, including Afrikaans, followed public sentiments by embracing the new South Africa. However, the dream of the ‘rainbow nation’
23 Discrimination against women persists around the globe hampering development
24 Discrimination against women. www.unwomen.org/2012/07/disrimination-against-women- Persist-around-globe-hampering-development.
25 Updated raw figure total of Reported sexual related crimes from the SAPS 2010 is 66 332
26 Article 14 Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing Declaration, 1995.
soon developed cracks.27 Criticism started to emerge, and has grown in frequency and intensity in recent years, particularly with ‘violent crime putting South Africa in the top category of most dangerous country in the world, poverty, government corruption, and the AIDS pandemic.’28 Therefore, women who perform indigenous protest music, such as, tshigombela and malende, including veterans of the anti-apartheid movement, are once again protesting against what they consider to be a government failing to uphold the promise of peace, democracy and freedom for all, that Nelson Mandela made upon his release, and subsequently during his term of office as the South African president.
2.5.1 Recycling of Old Liberation Songs
The biggest challenges facing South Africa post 1994 lie in the government’s economic situation, its inability to attain sustainable development, and to combat poverty and inequality (Maloka, 2014). It is against this backdrop that the AbM29, and other embattled communities, believe that protest marches should still constitute an important medium through which they communicate their grievances to government officials and the wider public (Kameldien, 2014). These marches are said to be a consequent of the growing citizen frustration and tensions, arising from high levels of economic inequality, hence, a wave of demonstrations, protests and marches, frequently organised by the social movements, has spread across South Africa (Kameldien, 2014). During these marches, community members deliver memoranda to local and national offices. This is due to the fact that community protests in demand for service delivery have become a response to what is regarded as the South African government’s failure to fulfill its technical functions (Kameldien, 2014).
Consequently, protest songs and dance mark most marches organized by particularly the AbM, and other embattled communities. Activists perform the toyi-toyi, and sing powerful songs to highlight their grieviences (Kameldien, 2014). Not only do the protesters formulate
27 Grundlingh, A. Rocking the boat? The Voëlvry Music movement in South Africa: Anatomy of Afrikaans anti-apartheid social protest in the eighties.
http://sun25.sun.ac.za/portal/Arts/Departmentel/geskiedenis/docs/rocking_the_boat.pdf
28 Ibid.
29 Abahlali base Mijondolo – shack-dwellers, and those who reside in informal settlements.
new lyrics, but they also recycle old ones (Willems, 2014). Furthermore, the lyrics of old struggle songs have also been altered and given new meanings, to suit the changed political context of the 2000s (Maloka, 2014). It is ironic that South Africa’s distinctive toyi-toyi dance – a hallmark of anti-government demonstrations under apartheid – still plays a key role during social movement marches (Willems, 2014).
The lyrics that are adapted and recycled to correspond with different grievances and different protest circumstances, lament the conditions faced by poor communities, as well as the failure of government to safeguard their rights (Maloka, 2014). These lyrics also call on the post- apartheid government to remain serious about improving the living conditions of the poor (Willems, 2014), including dealing with the high rate of unemployment, housing, electricity, water and sanitation challenges, as well as corruption and municipal maladministration, poor health facilities and crime that has gone out of hand (Kameldien, 2014).
2.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF PROTEST SONGS AMONG VHAVENDA WOMEN