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“I remember people were kicked, people were shot with rubber bullets,” Jiyane says. “Some of our neighbours got arrested for nothing. To go to town, my mother had to have an ID copy. If she didn’t have that, she didn’t come back home. Either she would be jailed or she would be killed.”
The choir was formed to celebrate the heritage of South Africa, “to celebrate the different cultures we have in our country, and also to celebrate the music, the different genres, and the 11 official languages that we have.
“I get goosebumps when I speak about what the choir means to me. It’s given me so many opportunities. It’s taken us all over the world to express ourselves and share our culture and also share our music. It’s a blessing.”
Jiyane says the choir tries to give audiences a sense of Soweto’s role in helping dismantle apartheid.
“Soweto is where everything started. It’s where the leaders were”: Soweto Gospel Choir.Credit: Will Bucquo/Sydney Fringe Festival
“Soweto is where everything started,” he says. “It’s where the leaders were. The late Archbishop Tutu was from Soweto. Nelson Mandela had a house in Soweto. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela had a house in Soweto. There’s a rich history and we try to showcase that.”
Mary Mulovhedzi, daughter-in-law of the original choirmaster, joined just after having the first of her three children 21 years ago. Her husband, Mulalo Mulovhedzi, was already a member.
“Singing gospel music, for me, is praying,” she says. “The words that you sing, that’s a prayer.”
The choir perform an impromptu number during a sound check at the Spiegeltent Festival Garden. Credit: Edwina Pickles
Mulovhedzi, who calls it as “amazing and humbling” travelling the world with the choir, says Soweto has improved since she grew up in an underprivileged family.
“Freedom is the most changed thing,” she says. “Our kids now go to better schools. There’s better shopping malls in Soweto. You don’t even have to go [elsewhere] to get some things. Of course, some people won’t change but apartheid is not there any more.”
When her husband died from stomach cancer two and a half years ago, Mulovhedzi considered leaving the choir. “I thought I wouldn’t have the strength to go on because each and every thing we did, we did it together,” she says.
Gospel music, prayer and support from the choir helped her through a tough time.
“You know what, this is God’s timing,” she says. “If God chose him, that means he was one of his angels.”
Soweto Gospel Choir’s HOPE is at the Sydney Spiegeltent, Entertainment Quarter, during the Sydney Fringe Festival from September 3 to 25.