On July 16th 2019 Johnny Clegg passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer at age 66. Johnny was/ is a legend to South Africans the world over. I read the news the morning after his death. A deep sadness came over me, it was the end of an era for me. It sparked off a thought, a recurring thought, a motivating thought, that I have whenever someone passes. One that has sparked my “#Thisisyourlife” posts on social media. The thought is a challenging one. “What are you doing with this one precious life you have to live?”
For those who do not know who Johnny Clegg is or was allow me to enlighten you.
Jonathan Paul Clegg, OBE, OIS (7 June 1953 – 16 July 2019) was a South African musician and anthropologist. His band Juluka began as a duo with Sipho Mchunu and was the first group in the South African apartheid-era with a white man and a black man. They recorded and performed, later in larger formation. -Wikipedia
As a child growing up in Apartheid South Africa in the 60’s there were things you just accepted as normal and did not question. As a teenager in the 70’s, I accepted nothing, I questioned and challenged everything.
Johnny Clegg was as a musician rising in popularity. As you have read in the Wikipedia quote above, having a black-white collaboration as a musician was unheard of. Mixed race gatherings were outlawed at the time. The group areas act was in effect. People were segregated by race and did not overlap into one another’s lives.
I knew this was innately wrong. We did not have TV until I was 16 years old, the news we did get was carefully vetted and censored. We were under sanctions from the rest of the world, in an attempt by the world to get our politicians to eliminate apartheid. I had heard of Nelson Mandela being held as a prisoner on Robben Island. He and his friends had tried to effect change, they had done so using violent means and the South African government had retaliated violently. This political unrest became our lifestyle, the topic of every conversation at every gathering.
Onto this landscape burst this band called Juluka. It thwarted every conventional norm. The white young man called Johnny Clegg nicknamed “The White Zulu” and his friend Sipho combined languages and cultures in their original music that crossed boundaries and showed us a world that could be possible.
Eloquent speakers at his memorial service said of him:
“One day historians will reflect on 20th and 21st century South Africa and the impact of Johnny Clegg”;
“He dared us to imagine a common humanity”
“He will be remembered long after those who thought they were important have been forgotten.”
He fought peacefully and tirelessly through his music for tolerance and understanding.
There is a lot of violence, crime and corruption that still happens in South Africa. It is no longer for the struggle of equality for all, it’s driven now by crime and corruption, but the efforts of these great men will not be forgotten.
We may not all be Johnny Clegg’s or Nelson Mandela’s, but we can effect change in our own way, in our own world. We can strive, for tolerance and inclusivity in our own communities. We can be remembered as being kind, compassionate and loving towards our fellow humans. We can all leave a legacy of kindness. I know I am going to try. How about you?
Margi Raffan 