In 1988, while he was working in a vanadium mine, Jabulani Abel Dlamini met a group of men who were singing together.  Abel joined with the group as its leader, and Thula Sizwe was born! 

As with most performance groups, members come and go over the years, but there are still three members who had been part of the group Abel joined: Paul Ramafalo, Jonathan Mabuya, and Nicholas Lenkwato.  Johannes Magana and Alfred Letsoalo joined with Abel in 1988. Shadrack Mgiba joined Thula Sizwe in 1989, and four new members joined up in 2004:  Ntokoza Zikalala, Zakhele Mchunu, Kwenza Ngubane, and Isaac Mlambo.

The musical style of Thula Sizwe is based in ancient Zulu cultural traditions.  Abel learned many of the dances from his father, who learned them from his father, and so on, for many generations.  The tradition of competitions between different singing groups is an ancient one, as Zulu warriors would prepare for battle by singing and dancing, and it became very popular in the apartheid era, when many men lived far from their families in order to work.  The men would form groups to sing and dance to entertain themselves in these times of isolation. There they also adapted a style of dancing incorporating the gumboots that they wore in the wet tunnels of the mines.

Some of Thula Sizwe's performance highlights include:

·        1991: Performed during the opening ceremony of the South African "Pretoria International Show"

·        1992: Performed to welcome Nelson Mandela home, at the end of his tour following his release from prison

·        1992: Worked with Paul Simon during his Graceland tour in Johannesburg

·        1993: Sang a requiem at the funeral of Chris Hani, a South African freedom fighter

·        1994: Performed in Libreville, Gabon, at the invitation of the South African Embassy

·        1994: Performed at the first Republic of South Africa National Day celebrations

·        1994: Sang at the inauguration of President Nelson Mandela

·        1995: Performed at the First Youth Day celebrations, Orlando, South Africa

·        1997: Performed for L'Association Dionysienne de Promotion Economique

·        2000: Performed at a function for RSA Ambassadors-designate

·        2000: Performed at the Aardklop Arts Festival, Potchefstroom, South Africa

·        2001: Appeared in South Africa Television (SATV) programs Noot vir Noot and Draadloos

·        2001: Appeared in the South Africa Airlines tourism video “No Place Like Home!”

·        2002: Performed in ICMFF Heritage (Music and Dance) Concerts

·        2004: Opened the International Powerlifting Championships in South Africa

·        2004: Performed at the B&B Accreditation Ceremony in South Africa

·        2005: Appeared in “Ezodumo,” a cultural program, on SATV1

Concert tours have included visits to Ghana (1994, 1996) Central African Republic (1996), Congo (1996) New Zealand (2000), the People's Republic of China (1998), Israel (1997), Turkey (1998), Russia (1998), Jordan, Palestine (1997), Belgium (2003), Thailand (1998), Germany (2005), the Netherlands (1998, 2003) Hungary (2000), Great Britain (2002, 2003), Australia (2006) and the United States (1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007).

Susan and William Field founded Pangaea Cultural Exchange LLP in 2005 and work on a volunteer basis to promote Thula Sizwe in the United States. We can be contacted by email at seof@optonline.net. Other contact information can be found on our contact page.