To watch Bongeziwe Mabandla step onto stage is to witness the transmutation of the abstract into the physical. The 32-year-old’s performances are probably best described as conjurings: a kind of magic that sees Mabandla act as an interlocutor between his listener and the wide range of emotion (loss, rebirth, love) that his music inspires.

Two Februarys ago, as the blue pulled away from the sky in Braamfontein, I made my way to the now-closed Orbitjazz club to see Mabandla perform for the first time. Having never seen Mabandla perform before, I had no idea what to expect. He was then known for his work as an actor – he played a character called Andy on Generations and had a recurring role on Tsha Tsha.

The night rolled toward the moon, mid-set there was a moment. Guitar in-tow, Mabandla paused to insert a preamble into his next song. 

“I wrote this song a little while after living in Johannesburg,” he spoke into the mic. “It’s essentially about that feeling you get when you look back and think: how did I become the person I am? How did I lose so much of who I was?” 

A few seconds later, the psalmist began his sermon: 

Phambi kwabantu bonke ndiyafunga 
Oba bomi bendibuphila
ndibushiya emva
Lemini sisiphawulo
Iyandazisa

At its core, the lyrics are a prayer bound by the contours of return. Mabandla makes a solemn declaration “in front of every living being” to cast his current self in the future and no longer be the person he used to be. 

Read the full article on News Frame.