Taking children away from the streets and nurturing the creativity of our young minds is a mission possible for Durban Deep-based Fikile Mothoa-Mbele. She established the Movers ya Sol Plaatje Cultural Group, which is also known as Turupa in 2015.
The group are well-known for marching along the township streets in a unique way which attracts the attention of curious residents.
Mothoa-Mbele said Turupa is a prominent cultural activity in Mpumalanga and the North West Province.
“The concept can be traced back to the Scottish Military as a form of entertainment 203 years ago. In Johannesburg, this cultural activity is not popular.
“That is the reason I want to popularise Turupa so that it can be embraced by people in Johannesburg,” she said.
She said Turupa contests in Mpumalanga and the North West Province is a big form of entertainment and young and old participate in competitions held locally during the December holidays.
“My group has 28 members and consists of 10 male soldiers and 18 girls. The male participants wear military regalia when taking part in Turupa contests, which is expensive, while the girls wear drum majorette costumes.
“Despite the constant financial challenges, my love for Turupa keeps me going. We seek sponsorship so we are able to participate on an equal scale with other well-known cultural activities.
“Due to the financial constraints and expensive regalia participants wear when they drill, we sometimes borrow regalia from our friends outside the province,” she added.
She said her Turupa members choreograph some of their drill moves which gave her hope that there was a great future laying ahead for the tradition in Johannesburg.
When Turupa contestants perform on the streets, they play drums, blow whistle and showcase drilling skills.
Audiences were held captive by this unique art form at the Roodepoort Theatre last Saturday and Mothoa-Mbele said her dream was to promote the concept in the City of Johannesburg by hosting a range of competitions in the near future.
She said, “Currently, we participate in Turupa competitions taking place outside Gauteng. In the future, we would like to see ourselves competing overseas with some of the best in business.”
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