Tete Mbambisa and Max Diyamani
Gashia and Simphiwe Mathole
Manenberg ("man and mountain"), Basil Coetzee's Cape Town anthem, is one of the most beautiful songs ever written. There are a couple of snatches of it on YouTube, one a peaen to Abdullah Ibrahim (Dollar Brand). The other gives twice as much, but only a full rendition of the 13-minute masterpiece does it justice.
The song's increasingly attributed to Ibrahim, but it was Basil, whom I heard play it countless times — mostly especially with Sabenza, who owned that music. As the sax sings, so it weeps. It is intensely impassioned yet heart-breakingly soulful. Basil died penniless; his funeral — attended by cabinet ministers, paid for by donations.
That's Cape Town.
Tete played Manenberg that day and Gashia gave it voice...
