A life of exile and music
Through music, Bandile Masinda became involved in politics during the apartheid era, and was soon exiled to Botswana for his involvement.
The world changed, but over the years music stayed the same for Bandile Masinda. He built his own guitar from scrap cans, discarded fishing line and curtain wire when he was just a child in the 1960s. Something sparked his soul and music became his life.
It helped that his uncle had his own band. School became a mundane daily act for him, and his imagination always drifted out the classroom door to where he could watch the band practise after school. When he reached his teenage years, Bandile joined the band.
He and the band’s bassist later formed their own band and started touring, playing mostly at weddings and parties in the former Transvaal. He met the man who would one day stand as one of Mogale City’s mayors, Lentswe Mokgatle and formed the band Badiri, which translates to ‘workers’. It wasn’t long before this path led straight to Bandile’s exile from South Africa.
“I realised that some of the band members were underground members of uMkhonto weSizwe and the African National Congress (ANC) during apartheid,” Bandile said. He became involved with the movement and joined their militia ranks in Botswana. There he met up with some big-name musicians of the time, such as Hugh Masekela, Jonas Gwangwa and Dennis Mpale. He received his political education and helped the ANC raise funds through their arts and music programmes. He toured Botswana with other groups and sang mostly political songs.
When the South African Military came down on them, Bandile said that he didn’t know what to do or where to go, and simply hid wherever he could. He subsequently joined with uMkhonto weSizwe’s fighting force and received military training. He soon became a physical-training instructor and then head of their Department of Art and Culture. Through all this, his personal music career was put on hold for many years.
He finally returned to South Africa in 1992, hoping for a fresh start and a better life in his country of birth.
“Life was tough, because the government didn’t help us to integrate back. I had nothing here. Only by 1995 the military integrated us into the South African Defence Force, and they let me set up the army band,” Bandile explained.
He left the military in 2006 and recorded his first album, Tokoloshe, which didn’t fare very well. His second album, Ma Africa, did a little better, but he only hit his stride by the next album. Mkhokheli means leadership, and focused on what the new leadership of his time did wrong. “It’s about choosing leaders who only look after themselves.” This record did especially well when it was uploaded to internet platforms.
Today he teaches the youth about music from his home.
“I just need more instruments, because the kids can’t always afford them.” He still hopes to be employed in the Cultural Department at the Municipality “… to help them grow’, as he put it.
