Burning Spear rocks the crowd at Makhuvha Stadium

The internationally acclaimed reggae music megastar Winston Rodney, known to millions of reggae fans around the world as Burning Spear, delivered one of his best performances to date when he took the stage at Makhuvha Stadium last Thursday night.

The show was organised to acknowledge local reggae guru Colbert Mukwevho as one of the finest musicians on the African continent. It is said that when Burning Spear saw Mukwevho performing at Emperor’s Palace in Kempton Park a week earlier, he was so impressed by Mukwevho's performance that he altered his African tour schedule to include a visit to Venda, where he could share the stage with him.

As local reggae star Khakhathi Tshisikule introduced the legendary Jamaican reggae icon, the crowd began chanting some of Burning Spear's favourite slogans, such as “Mama Africa” and “One Africa, One People.”

“This is a very historic day in our lives. Burning Spear is performing here for the very first time, and perhaps the last time, and we are the first generation to witness this unfolding,” Tshisikule said. “Burning Spear played a pivotal role in the liberation of the African continent through his music. Now that the continent is free from colonial rule, he is on an African music tour.”

After the formal introductions, the 79-year-old reggae icon took the stage, bouncing like a younger man as he began belting out his best reggae songs while the elated crowd moved up and down in a rhythmic Mexican wave.

After each song, Rodney raised his right hand and asked, “Do you need more original reggae music? Are you sure you need some more? Rastafari!”

Local reggae godfather Colbert Mukwevho was the first performer of the night, taking the audience back to the good old days with hits from The Comforters and Harley and the Rasta Family. Mukwevho reminded reggae fans of the late Bob Marley by performing songs like “War” and “Exodus.”

Date:08 November 2024

By: Victor Mukwevho

Victor Mukwevho Ne-vumbani joined the Mirror during it's inception in 1990. He joined the SABC newsroom in 1995, and was known by  listeners as "A u fhedzisela ari". He was a news editor for The Tembisan Newspaper from 2007 to 2015. He rejoined the Limpopo Mirror newspaper in June 2022 as a freelance journalist.

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