Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa says they had committed themselves to establish a Ladysmith Black Mambazo Academy to keep alive the legacy of Professor Joseph Shabalala. He was speaking at the special funeral of Ladysmith Black Mambazo founder Professor Joseph Shabalala underway at the Ladysmith Indoor Sports Centre in KwaZulu-Natal.President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver the eulogy.
In 2018, the multi-Grammy award-winning group launched the academy with the aim of giving aspiring artists the chance to learn from the group. The academy includes a series of music workshops aimed at educating the younger generations on the isicathamiya genre.
“We’ve committed ourselves to build the actual memory memorisation of him through an actual Academy. I’m happy that people see the need we had, this vision and some doomsayers were saying a lot of things – but I’m happy that people understand that we are on the right path – thank you so much that we are on the right path,” says Mthethwa.
Meanwhile, the group had to postpone part of their tour of the US to bid farewell to Professor Shabalala. Shabalala’s son Sibongiseni says they appreciate the respect people have shown his father.
“We are very happy to see how much people respected our leader.”
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