Veteran jazz musician and guitarist Muziwakhe “Madala” Kunene was honoured with an honorary doctorate at a University of KwaZulu-Natal graduation ceremony held on Wednesday, May 10.
Kunene was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree by the University of KwaZulu-Natal for his contribution to the development of indigenous music and his contribution to the music of Africa and that of the world.
During his acceptance speech, Kunene said he felt humbled and grateful for the recognition by the university to honour him with a doctor’s degree.
“I am humbled and full of great appreciation for the recognition that has been expressed by the university management, as well as other role players who saw it fitting to recognise the contributions made by people like myself and give us recognition here at home which is quite unusual,” Mandala said.
Recounting the moment he received the exciting news, Mandala stated that when he received a call from the University of KwaZulu-Natal informing him that they wanted to confer an honorary doctorate on him, he initially thought it was a prank.
He said he was caught off guard by the news and couldn't believe that a university would want to honour him in such a way.
“I thought Dr Bheki Mthembu was not serious when he expressed his wish and that of his colleagues to ask the university to honour me with a doctor’s degree.
“I couldn’t believe it when I received a letter from the university formerly called eMbhoshongweni notifying me of the wonderful news of the recognition of my work at the level of a doctoral degree in music.
“If I may be honest, I didn’t get much sleep that night thinking that there might have been a mistake. I woke up quite early to call Dr Mthembu who burst out laughing and reassured me saying ‘there was no mistake Mntimande, the university community is proud of your work’”.
The muso said he recognised this moment as a dream come true for his grandmother who valued education and wanted him to become a medical doctor.
“Today MaMntungwa’s wish has been granted even though she thought I was going to be a medical doctor at a hospital but my talent pointed me in the direction of being a doctor that heals people’s souls with music.”
During the speech, Kunene reflected on his journey which began in the 1950s when he played the guitar as a 7-year-old boy.
“I built myself a guitar with a cooking oil canister and a plank that was carved into the shape of a guitar and used a fishing line as strings. We used to play with my friend in Mkhumbane where I was born.
“We started playing the guitar and being paid with food, as time went by, we started playing in halls where you found that due to apartheid laws, we played behind the curtain while the other races who were permitted used to be in the front, pretending to be the performers.
“There wasn’t much money that artists got which is why even today, artists and actors from our time, die poor. Despite all the hardships we faced, we have never changed, we stood on the mission of developing our craft.
“I would like to express my appreciation for having been blessed with the privilege of sharing the stage with renowned artists like Doc Mthalane, Songamasu, Shor Phillips, Mankunku Ngozi, Busi Mhlongo, Sipho Gumede, Hugh Masekela, Syd Kitchen, Themba Mokoena, Mabi Thobejane Nabanye.”
Some of the international artists that he’s worked with include Airto Moreira (Brazilian percussionist), Max Laesser (Swiss guitarist), Ali Faque (Mozambican vocalist), and Andreas Vollenweider.
“I thank the producer that I have worked with a great deal for distributing my music overseas, Robert Trunz, who is here today.
“My music has taken me to countries like the UK, Sweden, Norway, USA, India, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Switzerland, Mali, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Madagascar just to name a few.”