Top 5 Songs Of Vusi Mahlasela

One of the best musicians SA has ever had the legendary Vusi Mahlasela who wrote and sang songs that uplifted the souls and hearts of the oppressed souls in the times of apartheid. His music comes from a real place, her songs are inspired by real life events that every South African seem to relate to.

Vusi built his first guitar from fishing line and a cooking oil can and taught himself how to play. In 1976, Vusi’s political education began as he witnessed the devastating massacre of more than 200 black South Africans in the Soweto Uprising. Vusi responded through his music, inspiring other musicians and listeners around him.

He began to write songs of justice, of freedom, of revolution, of love, of peace and of life. He joined a poetry group, The Ancestors of Africa, and also joined the Congress of South African Writers, a group of like-minded artists and writers, including Nobel Laureate Nadine Gordimer who paid for Vusi’s first guitar lessons. At this point, his political activism truly began. For the “crime” of writing songs of freedom and human dignity, Vusi was held in solitary confinement; he was harassed by the police repeatedly. Many of his friends fled the country. Through this struggle, his songwriting became not only prolific but also healing for himself and for his listeners.

Men like him ought to be celebrated for the contribution they have made in the music industry of SA and for the part that music played in bringing about the peace and freedom it preached.

Below is the list of 5 out of many best songs Mahlasela wrote and sang.

1.River Jordan