Democracy and the Arts in South Africa

As a mixed-race African and adoptee, poet Phillippa Yaa de Villiers has always felt like an outsider in her own culture, but this has turned out to be an advantage as an artist. Free of the constraints of a traditional role, she simply tries to tell her truth as generously as she can. 

Arts journalist Percy Mabandu believes that jazz is the most democratic of all art forms, and so invokes it in taking stock of how far his country has come over two decades. Like democracy, the music demands strict collaboration but also handsomely rewards individuality. Perhaps we could all learn from its example.

Jazz singer and pianist Nomfundo Xaluva performs a live rendition of Yakhal’Inkomo and explains why this song, which holds deep meaning for black South Africans as an anthem of the anti-apartheid struggle, is still inspiring musicians today.