Legends of South African Cultural Heritage

Journalist and cultural historian Sam Mathe has earned a celebrated reputation in South Africa’s cultural sector for being a living archive of memory and conscience. His book Kippes to Kippies and Beyond is described as a tour de force, a colossal achievement. With great dedication and respect as well as awe-inspiring and meticulous research, Mathe has produced a study and a tribute to those not often remembered and honoured, which covers at least four generations of musicians from the nineteen twenties to the contemporary era. In a roundtable discussion, he chats about South Africa’s rich cultural legacies with cultural legends Barbara Masekela, Marah Louw and Des Lindberg, who are each also authors of their own histories. Barbara Masekela’s Poli Poli is described as a remarkable history that speaks to African identity, close family bonds, belonging, struggle and sacrifice, women’s rights, and femininity, and is written with lyricism and transporting detail of one of the country’s greatest wordsmiths. Marah Louw’s biography, It’s Me, Marah An Autobiography, traces her journey as a ten-year-old star singing with the Imilonji Choir to becoming an international star.  Every Day Is An Opening Night by Des, and Dawn Lindberg is a deeply personal memoir and a glimpse into their socio-political activism. It documents the joys and challenges of their legendary lifetime in South African theatre – as musicians, performers, songwriters, stage designers, managers, impresarios and ultimately legends of the entertainment industry.