Struggle Music: South African Politics in Song

Family Therapy and the Pedagogy of the Oppressed: Therapeutic Use of Songs in Apartheid South Africa

“…It was said that the Afrikaans word ‘pasopa’ which means ‘watch out’ was deliberately adopted in the lyrics of that song to provoke the apartheid authorities, the majority of whom were of Afrikaaner origin and could understand the language and the vocabulary and the import of the song. Indeed, according to the activist Nandi Modise (as cited by Le Roux‐Kemp, , p. 256), ‘when you really, really wanted to make the Boers (Afrikaaners) mad, you sing Pasopa Verwoerd because you are almost daring them.’ It is thus a song of deliberate provocation and perturbation of the emotional ease of the apartheid leaders of the time. It was a warning song too, directed particularly to Henrik Verwoerd who was popularly known as the chief architect of the apartheid system of government.…”

“…Powers, Letta Mbuli, Brenda Fassie, Mbogeni Ngema, and Vuyisile Mini. Songs produced by these gifted South African musicians constitute what is now often collectively referred to as struggle , liberation, or revolutionary songs (see Gilbert, ; Le Roux‐Kemp, ; Nkoala, ; Pongweni, ). The songs they created paralleled those that were used by similar revolutionary groups in other countries like Brazil, Congo DRC, Burundi, Uganda, Malawi, Nigeria, and Kenya.…”

Gatekeeping Through Music: A Case of the Patriotic Front in Zambia

“…Historically, music has played a significant role in communicating messages of mobilisation and resistance against colonisation in several African countries (le Roux-Kemp, 2014;Nyoni, 2007;Pfukwa, 2015;Pongweni, 1997;Tsoubaloko, 2016;Vershbow, 2010). In the Belgian Congo, for instance, write Jewsiewicki and Pype (2020) music served as an important tool through which natives undermined the strict colonial controls.…”