South Africa's Savuka is a Force for Change
by Stephen Holden
September 1, 1988
"At the end of all bloody human storms/As the last flames and embers glow/We peer up into the wounded sky/And search for a human."
So writes Johnny Clegg in "Human Rainbow," one of several stirring anthems on the second album, Shadow Man (Capitol-EMI), by Clegg and his South African band, Savuka.
So far, the bright, inspirational Afro-pop of Johnny Clegg and Savuka, has found a much more receptive audience in Europe than in America. In France, where Asimbonanga (Mandela), from the group`s first album, reached No. 1, Clegg is as popular as Michael Jackson.
Like Clegg`s previous band, Juluka, Savuka, whose name means "We have risen" in Zulu, is an interracial South African group led by Clegg, a 34- year-old English-born white man who has lived in South Africa since the age of 6 and who as a youth immersed himself in black South African culture. Today he is an honorary Zulu.
His new sextet, which gave its first concerts in Johannesburg in 1986, includes two former members of Juluka (Dudu Zulu on percussion and vocals and Derek Debeer on drums and backup vocals), which broke up when its cofounder and lead guitarist, Sipho Mchunu, returned to his community to be a full-time farmer.
"The new band is launching an international career under exceptionally difficult circumstances," Clegg said. "It would be easy for us to pack up and leave the country to be a commercial pop band. But because we realize we have such a strong influence on the young people of South Africa, we want to contribute as much as we can.
"Right now there are massive contradictions in the South African social situation. We've never had so many people in detention, and the scale of armed struggle has grown. But at the same time we`ve seen a relaxation in certain social and cultural areas.
"More venues are available in which to perform, and more of them are desegregated. A space has been opened for cultural workers to project the struggle into areas that were once forbidden. If you compare our lyrics to those of any other South African band`s music, we are extremely contemporary in the way we convey the day-to-day reality, the hopes, fears and aspirations of the country. I believe very strongly that the system will either be eradicated or in its death throes in the next 10 to 15 years.
"The artists who are working on a progressive platform will play a crucial role in finding a space for both Western and African cultures in post-apartheid society."
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