Telling her truth, her way
ROSEBANK– Zolani Mahola opens up and tells her story through song
Zolani Mahola from the popular musical group Freshly Ground has now spread her wings and gone solo. In an intimate setting at the Home Suite Hotel in Rosebank, Mahola told her story and inspirations behind some of her most iconic songs.
She shares a telling tale of how the love from her mother was shattered after her death and broken down by her stepmother, her sexual abuse at the tender age of eight and how she used alcohol and food as a form of escapism.
“My mother loved me and my stepmom broke that down,” she said.
Sitting with her guitar in hand, Mahola was very emotional from the get-go. She began by sharing a precious memory she had of her mother. “My mother was holding me in her arms teaching me how to colour.”
She was six years old when her mom died after childbirth. For this reason, she dedicated 2019 to her. “I have this connection and memory of being really loved and cared for by of this woman who I didn’t know for very long who gave me this very special gift.”
Another life-changing thing was revealing the raw truth of how her stepbrother sexually abused her for two years. Sombre and still she started to play a song written for him called Don’t Take Me That Way. “This song is quite heartbreaking and I write it for my stepbrother – it’s a delicate song. People like him were wounded as children, it showed because he did that to me.”
She said it was important to reveal what happened. Freshly Ground painted a beautiful picture but it was never the full thing.
In 2010 which was meant to be one of the highlights of her career, Mahola was actually going through the lowest time of her life. At the height of her abuse, she used alcohol to numb the pain she was feeling. “All eyes were on me and I started looking at myself consciously.”
The year 2010 was the first warning sign of her spiraling. After much therapy, reflection and entering a 12-step programme, Mahola is now well on her way
Right now she is working on her debut solo album and has just concluded a one-man show in Cape Town. Raw and untouched we just may see The One Who Sings on stage in Joburg next year.
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