Music producer and DJ Banzi “Blanka” Mazimela was born in Butterworth and grew up in Dutywa with two brothers. He moved to Cape Town in 1993 to further his studies. In the last 20 years, he has worked himself to Head of Music Production at Soul Candi Institute.
Dumisani Dabadini
News | 18 March 2014
Once the playing begins, all that's to be heard is the clanging of pieces and the thumping of clocks signalling that it's "your move". Today, chess took centre stage at the Gugulethu Sports Centre.
Nathan Geffen
News | 15 March 2014
In a business as tough as the entertainment industry, artist management can be crucial, but the role and importance of an artist manager is often misunderstood.
Dumisani Dabidini
News | 12 March 2014
As Donald Glover delivers his second studio album, although not the most exquisite, it definitely shows the comedian-meets-rapper growing mic skills.
Zethu Gqola
News | 12 March 2014
Prolific and acclaimed South African poet and writer Mongane Wally Serote, one of only two African writers (the other being Leopold Sedar Senghor) to be honoured with the Golden Wreath Award for a lifetime achievement in poetry, focuses his attention on 21st century South Africa in his latest novel, Rumours.
Mongane Wally Serote
News | 12 March 2014
Kinky Disco brought together youth from in and around Cape Town and hosted a one-of-a-kind electronic dance music party in Langa Township.
Zethu Gqola
News | 11 March 2014
Not everyone in Cape Town celebrated Gay Pride in the same spirit.
Pharie Sefali
News | 10 March 2014
Starting off in 2004 as Kasi Vibes, kwaito duo Sello Mangwana (29) and Andile “Max” Stemela (31) reinvented themselves as Ruffest in 2007. It was the beginning of the rise of two musicians from Nyanga.
Dumisane Dabadini
News | 10 March 2014
“I am not a Coloured, I am Khoi,” says Colin Meyer. “The apartheid era imposed the identity of being Coloured on us, but that is an invention.”
Fergus Turner
News | 7 March 2014
This slim volume, containing nine essays, is at once ambitious and humble. In their introduction, editors Megan Jones and Jacob Dlamini explain that they tried to capture a variety of deeply personal lived experiences.
Joshua Maserow
News | 5 March 2014
Uganda’s brutal new anti-gay law puts Dembe Ainebyona (not her real name) in a difficult situation because she may never see her country of birth again.
Tariro Washinyira
News | 4 March 2014
After dropping Audio 3D in June 2012, ‘boom bap’ rapper Sizwe ‘Reason’ Moeketsi simply disappeared from the game.
Zethu Gqola
News | 28 February 2014
Cape Town Pride 2014 (CTP) takes place from 21 February to 1 March. The annual festival aims to celebrate gay rights in South Africa. This year’s theme is “uniting cultures in Cape Town”. However, people from communities around Cape Town have said that they feel CTP excludes them and the serious issues affecting them as gay people.
Jonathan Dockney and GroundUp Staff
News | 27 February 2014
A year ago, Masello Motana introduced us to Cyrilina Ramaposer, a rich diva with political and business ambitions. Now she is back as Julia Malema, a lady with a liking for pink dresses, flaxen weaves and pseudo-revolutionary talk.
Sibusiso Tshabalala
News | 20 February 2014
A group of five Gugulethu women studying at UCT are hitting the big time with their marimba music.
Pharie Sefali
News | 19 February 2014
Simon Estes Music High School in Wynberg, which was closed down on the first day of term, is fighting a last-ditch battle to survive.
Pharie Sefali
News | 19 February 2014