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The multi-talented Mackson Mbaziwa Mathonsi stands between his sculptures.

Mackson’s creative abilities not limited by his crutches

 

Mackson Mbaziwa Mathonsi is a multi-talented individual whose creative abilities are not limited by the fact that he uses crutches.

Mathonsi is an experimental sculptor, musician, fashion designer and chairperson of a centre for disabled people currently based at Mninginisi Block 3 in Giyani.

Standing between a jackal and human-sized bust which he had carved out of wood, Mathonsi told Limpopo Mirror that he started experimenting with sounds for music, carving wood, and tearing and piecing together cloth from a very young age.

“I told myself that I would not allow my physical disability to limit me from setting goals and working harder to achieve those goals,” he said.

Mathonsi is a lead vocalist in his musical group, Makumbila Lucky Mzala, where he also plays lead guitar. The group's debut album, Ka Madyisa, comprises songs such as Ka MadyisaNi Lava Ku DyelaVa Hi HolovisaSwita Vavana and Hahani.

Swita Vavana means that there would be a storm of dust when friends and family members meet to celebrate life through music,” he said. “We also composed the song Maveriveri to encourage spouses to live in peace and harmony. Spouses fight and separate because other people gossip and spread malicious rumours about one of the spouses.”

Mathonsi also heads a non-profit-organisation project, Tiva Rixaka Project for the Disabled, of which he has been the chairperson for some years now.

“We started the project because we wanted to do things for ourselves as disabled people. We also wanted to protect young disabled persons from all kinds of abuse by removing them from the harsh streets, where people send them for endless errands.”

Tiva Rixaka also keeps the disabled people busy by teaching them horticulture, knitting, sculpture making and other related skills which are beneficial to them. “We have 35 disabled persons in the project and at least 17 volunteers,” Mathonsi said. “Indeed, we are getting somewhere as a project. We hope to create a means of generating money for the project some time in the near future, so that we can give our volunteers a stipend.”

He told Limpopo Mirror that he is also a fashion designer who sews traditional attire and western suits for locals. “You see this suit (he holds the scuff of his jacket) - I designed it for myself,” he said. “I wear it when I do music performances.”

 

Date:19 September 2014

By: Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.

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