Saxophonist Linda Sikhakhane shares special moment with Thabo Mbeki at birthday party

On his debut album saxophonist Linda Sikhakhane has a song titled Influential Moments and it’s as though he was living through one of his compositions this past weekend when he shared a moment with former president Thabo Mbeki.

“It was really an honour to share that moment with him. I was actually invited by Ringo [Madlingozi] about three weeks ago to be part of the show, as he was the curator,” Sikhakhane told The Citizen. The talented saxophonist and composer was one of the performers at Mbeki’s 81st birthday celebration this past weekend, where the two shared a moment on stage.

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Sharing the cake

“He came to me and gave me the first piece of cake after cutting it. It was just cake, but for me it was symbolic in many ways,” Sikhakhane says.

During his set on stage, the 31-year-old saxophonist made mention of how jazz and politics were in tandem in the fight against apartheid, which the former president quoted when he made his speech.

“During my set I spoke about how people often speak about the ones that left and went to exile when discussing South Africa’s struggle history, not mentioning those who stayed behind and lived through the struggle here at home,” said Sikhakhane. “Jazz is a mouthpiece of the struggle.”

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In the short speech during his performance, Sikhakhane made reference of acclaimed South African tenor and soprano saxophonist Winston Mankunku Ngozi, who refused to go into exile. Ngozi died in 2009.

Real recognise real

Mbeki, who is fond of jazz music, announced that The Thabo Mbeki Foundation will partner with annual festival, the Joy of Jazz. “Our colleagues from the Joy of Jazz said to the foundation, ‘there’s something that’s not gone right,’” said Mbeki in his address.

“We’ve lost sight of the role of the arts, in terms of the formation of the nation. That we see music just as entertainment, so you stand up and jive and all of that. As we heard from the saxophonist who was saying that it would be a mistake to separate jazz from the politics of this country,” the former president said.

“We have to attend to this matter, of bringing back the arts as part of the making of the nation. I’m saying that’s a statement about hope for the future not misery.”

This wasn’t Sikhakhane’s first time performing for the former president.

“I’ve played at one of his birthdays before, but I was part of a band in the background. This was the first time I played for him as the [main] artist,” says the saxophonist who hails from KZN.

Sikhakhane celebrated his birthday just a few days before, but says he doesn’t know if there’s any significance in celebrating his birthday in the same month as Mbeki. “People say things about star signs, but I’m not educated enough about it… I’m not against it though,” he says chuckling.

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