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Langalakhe Mabena
Growing up, young kids would be heard singing “Gwabi gwabi” especially if they are bragging about something precious that they have on their procession, be it a sweet or a piece of cake or anything of value to them.
The term “Gwabi gwabi” can be credited to have been coined by a man with an unknown face named George Sibanda — a folklore musician from Bulawayo who was discovered by the American ethnomusicologist — Hugh Tracey.
Sibanda rose to fame in the early 1940’s as he was one of the then young artistes who played in bars and halls of Bulawayo with his acoustic guitar, singing music with thematic concerns that affected black men during that era, like political and social issues, difficulties of working in the industries and the mines, and other soft themes like love.
The cool crooner is credited as the first commercial folklore musician to do commercial music — thanks to Tracey who took Sibanda to record his “hits” at Gallo Records in South Africa. Sibanda’s music was “pure gold.”
In 1948 Gwabi Gwabi was released under Decca Label (British), as part of Tracey’s Music of Africa series, which also featured other ethnic musicians from Southern Africa. The song paved the way for George, such that it became an instant hit and it was re-issued over years. It was re-issued in Europe in the 1950s, re-released on a 12-inch by Gallo in South Africa in the 1960s and issued yet again in the early 1970s.
Gwabi Gwabi is not the only song that became a hit by George Sibanda. Songs like Ungahamba NoTsotsi, KwaNtu(thu), Chuzi Mama, Emely, Dali Ngiyakuthanda But Ha Ha Ha, Sake Sabotshwa, Gijima Mfana, Mami are some of the great hits by the legendary folklore musician.
But, Gwabi Gwabi was the trademark song — which even reached as far as America as it was re-recorded and re-performed by dozens of folk singers, among them Ramblin Joe Elliot, Taj Mahal and Arlo Guthrie (still alive).
As a way of trying to preserve George Sibanda’s legacy, in 2004, Michael Baird made a collection by compiling the crooner’s songs on a 20-track compilation. Despite many making an effort to resurrect George Sibanda, the effort was/is somehow in vain as he is a “faceless” character. Our sister paper Chronicle put out an advert, commanded by Michael Baird — to search for Sibanda’s picture, but they were never found. B-Metro made an effort to search for George Sibanda’s relatives and also in vain.
However, before arts doyen Cont Mhlanga died, he tipped this reporter off to a man called Simon Sibanda, who used to play together with George and gratefully, the reporter managed to get hold of him two years later. Simon Sibanda is aged 94 and he currently resides at Makokoba.
He was a close associate of George Sibanda. He too is a talented guitarist who performed together with George and other crooners of that time like Josaya Hadebe and Sabelo Mathe.
“I met George Sibanda here in Bulawayo. At that time when a boy was turning into a man, he would relocate from the villages to Bulawayo koNtuthu Ziyathunqa, to look for a job because the industries were booming here at that time. George was from Mbonqane in Nkayi that’s why he sang a song about Chief Mabhikwa.
“After work, we would meet at our hostels (in Makokoba), especially on weekends and we would enjoy ourselves, socialising by drinking and at the same time playing music on our own by playing our guitars because a radio was a scarce resource back then. At these gatherings, Nela Tshuma was the man who understood all the chords from a guitar and he taught us and perfected our jamming skills.
“The guys I played music with during our era was Mkhonto Ndlovu, Mjanana, Hadasi, Josaya Hadebe, Sabelo Mathe as well as George Sibanda, a man who was loved by white people because of his skills on the guitar,” said Simon Sibanda.
Sibanda, a respected herbalist at the Makokoba traditional market, said George’s music reflected on the day-to-day issues that affected them during that era.
“His music told stories of the industrialisation of Bulawayo in the middle of 19th century, that’s why his compositions had thematic concerns surrounding train stations and airplanes, hip urban gangsters in their fancy dress, rowdy nights in segregated bars and of young men struggling to collect the cattle needed to pay the bride price to marry their hometown sweethearts,” said Simon Sibanda.
Despite George being the first to go commercial among his peers, Simon said there was no bad blood among the “brothers.” He credits George’s breakthrough as the one that paved the way for him and Sabelo Mathe.
“George was a great player and whites loved him for that. In the 1940s we would play here at Big Bhawa in Makokoba and at Iminyela. We would sometimes frequent mining towns and places like Inyathi and further go deeper to rural areas like eGududu (Good Wood), KoMahamba, and other areas surrounding Tshangane River in Matabeleland North.
“A white guy called Hugh Tracey saw George performing at the mines and claimed to have discovered him and transported him via a train to South Africa, where Gwabi Gwabi was recorded. This song became a hit and it was played all over Africa and even in America. That is how big George Sibanda was. His breakthrough gave us hope and eventually myself and Sabelo would also follow in his footsteps as we are among the first local artistes to record at Teal Records (Gramma Records, their first recording studio in Zimbabwe),” said Sibanda.
Other journalists and authors who wrote about George Sibanda’s life claim that he died around the 1950s because of excessive alcohol consumption after he failed to handle fame. However, Simon disapproves of such a narrative which is aimed at “disgracing George’s life” as he was a smart guy, who never drank alcohol that much.
“George died of a short illness. His cause of death was never alcohol. He was a very smart guy who was loved by many including women everywhere he went. He was not like those Masgandi (maskandi) musicians who would abuse alcohol and play at beer halls the whole night drinking. He was a well-groomed character who had respect for his craft and the people around him,” said Sibanda.
George Sibanda’s music had and still has an impact on the whole world. To this day, in many small-town bars in America, they still play Gwabi Gwabi. Even kids from Generation Z inherited “gwabi gwabi”, a phrase coined by George himself.
B-Metro is searching for George Sibanda’s children or relatives. If anyone knows of them please contact this reporter on 0784796039.
Online Reporter