Hope for SA's township musicians

Black Mambazo relive their glory days

By Greg Barrow in Johannesburg

In the front room of a Soweto home, members of the original Black Mambazo group gathered recently to relive the days when they played to packed nightclubs, dazzling audiences with their brand of Kwela music.

But the man who composed Black Mambazo's greatest hit, Elius Lerole, gets no royalties for it.

In old age many musicians have fallen on hard times - victims of record piracy and the theft of their music rights.

Campaigners say old practices under which black musicians were exploited under apartheid continue to this day.

Elias: No royalties from his songs

But the South African Government says it is going to change legislation to protect the rights of musicians who receive little or no royalties from the songs they composed and performed.

The call for reform of the music industry followed the deaths of a number of high profile black performers who had become virtually destitute in their old age.

'Stolen music'

Elius Lerole says his music was stolen from him.

And in his eyes there is deep sadness when he talks about the good old days, when they were still young enough to perform, and earn a decent living.

They were unlucky to have been born in a period when apartheid South Africa did not recognise the need for black performers to have legal ownership of their work, and now they are suffering.

It took a high-profile funeral to prompt concern

Msic copyright specialist Graham Gilfillan has been fighting on behalf of many elderly black musicians who have been left virtually destitute in their twilight years.

He says: "The recording industry has made fortunes out of this and doesn't recognise that there is a problem."

Singer's death

It took the recent death of one of South Africa's most famous artists, Mahlatini, to expose the plight of ageing musicians.

Mahlatini was so poor by the time he died that his funeral was funded from donations by friends and fans.

Among the mourners was South African President Thabo Mbeki.

He was neither the first nor the last ageing singer to die in poverty - and now the government says it is going to take action.

Arts and Culture Minister, Dr Ben Ngubane is directing changes to existing legislation aimed at protecting the rights of performing artists.

So when Elius Lerole relives memories of his golden years, listening to old recordings, he at least now has some hope.

A team of lawyers has offered to help him regain the rights to his records - and while the changes to legislation may come too late for him, his children could yet benefit from his musical legacy.