South African Choral Music (Amakwaya): Song, Contest and the ...

286 Neo-traditional Songs
All songs are performed in the spirit of competition, and no group wants to lose. Therefore, after
all negotiations connected to lobola have been concluded and the wedding day agreed upon,
preparations are made by the choral groups, consisting of local young people, to compose and re­
hearse (uktifundela) songs for the wedding. The two groups meet at the homes of the bride and the
groom, respectively. On the very first day of the rehearsal, a leader known as umbhidi is appointed.
The group members expect that he should "be able to inspire them, like a commander in an army.
A person, who is strong in character, a person who knows how to move, who can move himself.
How to sing, who can sing himself".17 His function is, however, different from a conductor in the
Western sense as he does "what [the group] is doing. Not like a conductor in the Western music,
where you stand and do something different from what they are doing. Here you show them by
doing it".18
These people, Khumalo recalls, "were severe":
I remember when I was a small boy in Zululand, I used to join these choirs, because I loved traditional
music... you know I remember how very strict the conductors were. To make sure that everybody sang
accurately and also to make sure that everybody took the correct steps ... he [the umbhidt] would beat us
up if we did wrong things. Itwas a very severe thing.1 9
Figure 11.4: The Umbhidi - wedding in Izingolweni area, April28, 2001
17 Personal communication with Edward Mngacli, Durban, November 16, 1999.
18 Ibid.
19 Personal communication with Mzilikazi Khumalo, Johannesburg, SAMRO, July 18, 2000.