PRESUPUESTO CEPA

As international interest in South African music grew during the 1980s, so did opportunities for South African musicians overseas. By the late 1980s, more opportunities had become available for South African artists, particularly non- white artists, to work and study overseas, facilitated by the international anti- apartheid movement and the ANC in exile, partly to garner international support for the struggle. As the apartheid regime came under increasing international pressure and was beginning covert talks with the liberation movement, it became slightly easier to obtain travel documents, although the process was still "arbitrary and secretive" and many known activists continued to be denied permits (Ansell, 2004:254). Nevertheless, the division between exiled and locally-based musicians was slowly falling away.

While debates around the role of musicians and the cultural boycott continued, pressure against the regime mounted84_{, culminating at the end of 1989 in}

President FW de Klerk's unbanning of the ANC and repeal of remaining apartheid laws, as discussed in chapter three. These changes led to resulting adaptions in the ANC's policies regarding culture. At an ANC seminar that year in Lusaka, Zambia, lawyer and activist Albie Sachs, in a talk entitled “Preparing Ourselves for Freedom”, called for an end to the phrase and policy of "culture is a weapon of struggle". Sachs, who had survived an assassination attempt in Maputo in 1988, acknowledged that he had long endorsed the notion of art as a weapon, but no longer agreed with it. At the beginning of the decade, it had been necessary to mobilise artists in the struggle, an important focus of the ANC's ideology and agenda. By the end of the decade, however, the political context had changed to such an extent that the struggle movement had to broaden its view on the role of music and culture (Gilbert, 2007:421-422). The change reflects the ongoing pragmatism of the ANC and other struggle organisations, as with the government itself, to adapt to the continuously changing circumstances that defined this volatile period in South African politics.

The ANC could no longer prescribe appropriate subject matter or behaviour to musicians, who in turn had to re-evaluate their role within the changing political landscape. This had important implications for the music industry. With anti- establishment and many non-establishment musicians' aim of garnering popular support for the struggle having been achieved, musicians now had more freedom to decide for themselves the degree to which politics should be part of their music, if indeed at all. As it became increasingly clear that apartheid was coming to an end, the need for the cultural boycott soon diminished, and the South African music industry became less isolated from the rest of the world.

Another important development resulting from the changes in the political landscape was the return of the majority of exiled musicians to South Africa. With the apparent relaxing of the boycott, however, confusion and debate, for example

84 _{The homeland system was crumbling, with coups in both Transkei and (unsuccessfully) Bophuthatswana. A costly}

war in Angola, together with international negotiations and pressure, led to the signing of a peace accord in December 1988 with Angola and Cuba. Provision was made for a road map for Namibian independence and the withdrawal of South African troops from Angola and Namibia. Furthermore, the Mass Democratic Movement's Defiance Campaign brought parts of the country to a standstill (Ansell, 2004:218).

between the ANC and SAMA, still surrounded how best they were to be welcomed back. Nevertheless, Abdullah Ibrahim returned with Sathima Bea Benjamin, as did Hugh Masekela, Hotep Galeta, Jonas Gwangwa, Letta Mbulu, Caiphus Semenya and many others. Together with local performers like Mzwakhe Mbuli, Brenda Fassie, the African Jazz Pioneers and Sakhile, they performed at the landmark Return of the Exiles: Unity '91 concert in Johannesburg on 23 March 1991, the first time they had shared a stage at home for 30 years (Davis, 2003:241-242), so marking the end of a turbulent chapter in the history of South African music and politics.

The exiles’ return signalled that with the changing political dispensation, musicians were no longer considered enemies of the state. It also revealed their willingness to be part of the transition process and the forging of a new South African society, something they had been fighting for in their music for so long. One of the most powerful and longest-lasting effects of apartheid policy on the South African music industry – that of separating musicians between those based within the country and those in exile, and limiting opportunities for communication and collaboration between them – had come to an end, bringing a newfound unity to the music industry. This mirrors the changes to the struggle movement as a whole, as exiled freedom fighters also returned to the country and political prisoners were released, breaking down divisions within the struggle movement ahead of the transition to democracy.

4.5 CONCLUSION

In this chapter the third sub-problem of this research has been addressed: to understand the role of South African music and musicians outside the country in the struggle against apartheid. This was done by looking at the contribution of the community of musicians living in exile, as well as at the role of music within the exiled struggle movement, and at the success of South African music and musicians overseas during the 1980s. The evidence presented above shows that South African musicians played a vital role overseas in the struggle against apartheid, largely due to the success that South African non-establishment musicians enjoyed internationally. Although South African musicians made an

impact internationally since as early as the 1950s, the 1980s saw a marked increase in international attention given to South African music, despite the cultural boycott. This happened for a number of reasons, including the growing international popularity of “world music” during the 1980s and the growing global prominence of the anti-apartheid struggle. Interestingly, much of this international attention was centred on mbaqanga, an older popular genre often associated with Zulu culture specifically, rather than the bubblegum sound that was popular within the country and appealed to listeners across all language and ethnic groups. A key contributing factor to the prominence of South African music abroad during the 1980s was the role played by exiled musicians, many of whom had left South Africa in the early 1960s and by the 1980s were popular and established musicians in the USA and Europe. They had left the country to escape the repressive and discriminatory circumstances that non-whites in particular had to endure, which made it difficult for them to be creative, as well as the political clampdown on people who did not agree with the political dispensation in South Africa – both white and non-white. Musicians abroad and at home would have further objected to the government's attempts to use music as part of its social engineering and counter-revolutionary strategies. By going into exile, these musicians were not seeking to escape the political context of the time, but rather to find a freer environment in which to address it with the hope of bringing about change in South Africa. Politics therefore remained an integral part of their music. Most famously, Miriam Makeba was an outspoken political activist, addressing the United Nations on the plight of South Africans living under apartheid. Others such as Caiphus Semenya and Jonas Gwangwa made major contributions to political pop music through their work on television and film soundtracks in the USA. The ANC, operating in exile since the 1960s, utilised music to spread awareness and raise funds for the struggle, again underlining music's ability for political communication and political socialisation. Following much debate, by the mid- 1980s the ANC came to view culture as a weapon of the struggle, with musicians afforded particular significance in this regard. The ANC set up its own Department of Arts and Culture and established the Mayibuye Cultural Ensemble and then the Amandla Cultural Ensemble, which used music, dance and poetry to raise

awareness of apartheid in performances all over the world. In Botswana, the Medu Art Ensemble was set up in the late 1970s and provided the large community of exiled South African musicians and writers with a link to home, before a violent cross-border raid by the South African government effectively ended Medu in 1985. The raid would have proved a temporary setback but ultimately spurred musicians and other artists – as well as the rest of the community of exiled freedom fighters and even their families in South Africa – on to further action, by providing further evidence of the ruthlessness of the apartheid regime and reminding them of their importance in the struggle movement.

The efforts of exiled musicians and the various ensembles affiliated to the ANC in exile helped to pave the way for a boom in international attention given to South African popular music in the 1980s. Ironically it was during the 1980s, a time synonymous with international isolation and the cultural boycott, that South African artists enjoyed unprecedented success overseas, including popular black artists like Steve Kekana, coloured artists like Jonathan Butler and white crossover acts like Johnny Clegg's Juluka and Savuka. Various projects on screen and stage also used music to raise global awareness of the struggle, most notably Sarafina!, Buwa and Mapantsula. Touring offered black South African musicians an opportunity to become actively involved in the struggle and communicate with MK comrades in neighbouring countries, as well as to learn more about apartheid and to voice their concerns to the international media. However, many white pop acts attempting to tour outside the country faced difficulties due to the international stigma attached to apartheid, which limited their opportunities but could well have made them more aware of the political implications of their music and therefore their own role in the struggle.

By the end of the 1980s, more opportunities had emerged for local artists to travel overseas. Following the release of Nelson Mandela in 1990, exiled musicians began to return home, uniting the long-divided music industry in South Africa. Together with local stars they performed at the landmark Unity '91 Festival in Johannesburg, the first time they had shared a stage with their fellow musicians on home soil for 30 years. The event marked an emotional end to a sad chapter in South African history in which South African musicians had been divided, due to

apartheid, into two groups: those who were locally-based and others who were exiled. Though able to enjoy little contact or opportunities for collaboration with each other, the efforts of those outside South Africa complemented the work of those inside the country, and together both groups of musicians played a vital role in the struggle against apartheid. Indeed both groups of musicians were at the forefront of the struggle, not only artistically but also often sacrificing their personal safety in the process, just like the soldiers they fought alongside.

The contribution of exiled musicians and the various ensembles affiliated to the ANC in exile, as well as the international success of popular South African musicians, underlines the power of music as a medium of political communication and an agent of political socialisation. Musicians were able to tell the world about apartheid at a time when few others could, to change people's values and thinking towards the apartheid regime, and to aid communication within the anti-apartheid movement between those inside and outside the country.

The contribution of musicians to the struggle was not limited to those from South Africa, however. Musicians from other countries, including many of the most popular artists in the world, helped to raise awareness of South Africa to a larger, global audience and were thus also part of the struggle. Their role within the international fight against apartheid will be the focus of the following chapter.