Robert Sithole (1945 – 7 June 2006), was a South African musician.
Origins
Sithole was born, and grew up, in
District Six, a then-vibrant and cosmopolitan community in Cape Town. Sithole was removed to
Rylands Rylands is an English surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Dadie Rylands (1902–1999), British literary scholar and theatre director
*Dave Rylands (born 1953), English footballer
*Enriqueta Augustina Rylands (1843–1908), English ph ...
as a result of the
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
-era
Group Areas Act and the destruction of District Six.
For a time, he lived in exile in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
.
Whilst in the United Kingdom he attended the 150th anniversary celebration of Robert Clarke, the maker of Clarke's penny whistle, in the Suffolk village of Coney Weston in June 1993, where he played a set on stage along with
Mary Bergin
Mary Bergin (born ) is an Irish folk musician who is widely acknowledged as one of the great masters of the tin whistle. She plays in both the Irish Traditional and Baroque styles.
Biography
Mary Bergin was born in Shankill, County Dublin, ...
and
Bill Ochs.
Musical influences and career
Sithole was one of the finest exponents of the
pennywhistle,
his music taking inspiration from the
kwela and
mbaqanga styles. Early in his career he played with the
Kwela Kids in
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
and later with
Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabuse in the
Beaters in
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
. Sithole's prowess as a musician did not translate into financial success and by the late 1990s he was penniless,
busking
Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pr ...
on the streets of Cape Town. A stint as musician-in-residence at the
District Six Museum in Cape Town followed, ending as his health (compromised by heavy smoking) rapidly declined.
Circumstances of death
A stroke in late 2005 was followed by the amputation of a leg and then an attempt to amputate his other leg which brought on a general organ collapse and his death, at the age of 61.
Legacy
His music is to be found on ''Images of Africa'' (vol. 12) in 2000.
Sithole was, with his brother Joshua, also a musician, immortalised in the painting ''Penny Whistlers'' by
Vladimir Tretchikoff
Vladimir Grigoryevich Tretchikoff (Владимир Григорьевич Третчиков, , Petropavlovsk, Russian Empire, now Petropavl in Kazakhstan – 26 August 2006, Cape Town, South Africa) was an artist whose painting ''Chinese Girl' ...
.
References
''Sunday Times'', 6 June 2006
''The Cape Times'', 8 June 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sithole, Robert
1945 births
2006 deaths
South African musicians