Chronicle Editor
Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
A LONG-forgotten student of Amakhosi Cultural Centre, Miccain Sikhosana has resurfaced in South Africa where she has released a single titled Lendoda.
Sikhosana (30), who uses stage name Thuli Sithimbili derived from her totem, said she was trained in arts by renowned playwright, producer and director Cont Mhlanga about 10 years ago before she relocated to South Africa.
Lendoda, set for official launch on Facebook, was recorded at Face the Music studio in Cape Town where Thuli Sithimbili is based and working in the tourism industry.
The song, whose beat fuses Afro-pop with Isitshikitsha flavour, is a story of a woman who patiently waits for years for her husband to return home from a faraway country where he works.
Thuli Sithimbili said she was inspired by the resilience of Zimbabwean women or wives who spend years waiting for their husbands’ return from Egoli.
“I’m a song writer and vocalist doing Afro Pop and have been in the arts for 10 years. I was trained by Cont Mhlanga at Amakhosi in 2012 and I worked with several artistes such as Sandra Ndebele, Desire Moyo and Victory Siyanqoba as a freelancer. I also did something with Mjox (now presenter at Skyz Metro FM) but I was still young then and I didn’t get an opportunity to market it. It’s now that I’m doing my own music after years of silence and I’ve dropped a single titled Lendoda, whose story we can all easily relate to because we witnessed our mothers waiting for their husbands to return from Egoli,” she said from her base in Oudtshoorn.
Thuli Sithimbili says she was also part of the Bulawayo Ensemble alongside Madlela Skhobokhobo in 2014 in Bulawayo before she left for South Africa in the same year.
While she did the single Lendoda on her own, she is getting assistance from Madlela to market the song in Zimbabwe.
“I was looking for a sound I could relate to our own Isitshikitsha dance and I think we got something close. I’ll be launching on Facebook platform on Friday,” she added.
Thuli Sithimbili said she is working on a full five-song album she hopes to release in June.
She laments the effects of Covid-19 which she said cut off people’s livelihoods and the arts sector.
The former Luveve High School pupil said she would have released the single last year had it not been for the Covid-19-induced lockdown. — @ncubeleon
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