Kuyoze Kube Yinini Ngempela?

A review of the Maskandi song "Kuyoba Nini", performed by Sicelo "Dumakahle" Nkosi, in the political context.

UDumakahle is part of a long list of individuals who have used their artistic talent to express their despair towards the colonial situation Mother Africa finds herself in. In his monumental melody titled Kuyoba Nini, he highlights his concerns as well as proceeding to suggest a concoction which could be used to cure the country of this cancerous calamity.

Within the first two lines of the song, the artist encapsulates his initial reaction to the current socio-economic context by stating:

"...mangibona umuntu wakithi omnyama ehlupheka ngivele ngigoqane ulimi ngiphelelwe ngamagama".

Here he details how he becomes tongue-tied and has no words when he sees an African struggling in abject poverty. "Umuntu omnyama" is the modern isiZulu term which is generally used to refer to people of African descent.

His reaction is well justified, given the fact that South Africa's land is rich with natural resources - South Africa is the one of the world's leading producers of gold, diamond, platinum, chrome and manganese to name but a few - and since abantu abamnyama (Africans) are native to the lands then it should logically follow that their standard of living should reflect a beneficial impact of this fact. However, that is not the case, as much of the economic benefits which are derived from these resources are transferred to multinational companies that acquire them as raw materials and redistribute them to the very same people as finished products which have a substantially higher pricing than the amount they were acquired at.

UDumakahle then proceeds to pose a simple yet profound question in the chorus of the song:

"Kuyoba nini umuntu wakithi omnyama ephila kanzima esebenzela umlungu?...".

"Ukusebenza" describes the act of performing labour, and "umlungu" is a term used to refer to someone's superior in the workplace but when adapted to the country's socio-political context it has been commonly used to refer to a person of European descent. Essentially, the artist asks "How long will Africans continue living in poverty while performing labour that serves to benefit European settlers?"

The question is an important one, as it highlights a desire to reconfigure the international division of labour which was imposed by the colonisers. The African has been economically subjugated into nothing more than cheap and easily disposable labour which serves the capitalist interests of the bourgeosie - which substantially consists of European settlers.

The artist then postulates a possible solution to the crisis which currently faces the African. He does so by singing,

"Bengibona kungcono silime amasimu akithi siphile ngokulima just like old days/Bengibona kungcono sifuye izinkomo zakithi siphile ngemfuyo just like old days...".

In these lines, he is in a sense calling for the re-estabilshment of the communalist mode of production amongst Africans. Communalism largely focused on economic activities such as working the land for agricultural purposes (ukulima amasimu) and the accumulation of livestock (ukuphila ngemfuyo) as the mode of production.

As Walter Rodney writes in his book How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, the access to land as well as distribution of the goods produced was equitable and there were no distinctions between classes in the communalist mode of production. This mode of production was observed throughout Africa in the pre-colonial epoch, particularly the time before the eminence of European settlers. This is similar to the approach that was taken by the administration of the late great Mwalimu Julius Nyerere when became the first President of post-colonial Tanzania. After successfully leading the country to its political independence, he implemented the political ideology which came to be known as Ujamaa, to varying degrees of economic success.

In the final verse, uDumakahle succintly describes the plight of the African by singing,

"Ingwe idla ngamabalabala ayo kodwa amabala ayiwadli".

'Ingwe idla ngamabala' is a well-known isiZulu idiom which teaches that in a same way that a leopard could attract its prey using the beauty of its spots, people can attract circumstances which are beneficial towards them if they engage in positive actions or if they do good deeds.

In the context of the song, the artist reckons that Africans are meant to experience an improvement in the material conditions which they live in through the extensive labour which they perform, however, that is not the case as the fruits of the African’s labour continues to nourish the bellies of European settlers, which is why the artist appended the isiZulu idiom by saying "kodwa amabala ayiwadli".

UDumakahle's lyrical composition of Neocolonialism is not anomalous to indigenous art. But, until this understanding of the current socio-economic climate is consolidated amongst the people, we will continue to ask ourselves the question: kuyoba nini umuntu wakithi ehlupheka esebenzela umlungu?