
4 August 2015
World-renowned musician and anthropologist Johnny Clegg,who was recently awarded an OBE, aims to raise R1-million in a single night to go towards the fight against tuberculosis (TB).
On Tuesday, 18 August, Clegg will be joined by other local legends Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse‚ Pops Mahomed‚ Jesse Clegg‚ Ray Phiri‚ and Nonku Phiri at a concert at Nelson Mandela Theatre in Johannesburg. The money raised at the concert will go directly towards the programme run by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) to halt the TB epidemic in South Africa.
In September 2014, Clegg was shocked to learn that TB was the leading cause of death in South Africa.
“It seemed like a distant notion until band members and others around me became ill with TB‚” he said‚ “but after that I became aware that TB is a real disease that lives inside your lungs‚ and if you are really unlucky‚ in your spine‚ brain‚ or other parts of your body.
“We all need to learn what TB is and how it is transmitted. We all need to improve infection control where we live and work and in schools‚ taxis‚ clinics and other public spaces. We must all be TB aware.
“It’s hard to accept a world which turns a blind eye to TB simply because it mostly affects poor people. For this reason I have decided to engage with and to play a part in our national struggle against TB,” he explained.
The concert is the launch of the TAC’s TB public awareness campaign. Its goal is to ensure people across South Africa know the symptoms of TB and how to prevent transmission‚ as well as to explain the treatment that is available.
About Clegg
Clegg was born in England, but emigrated with his family when he was six months old. They settled initially in Zimbabwe, then spent a short time in Zambia before finally moving to South Africa. He has been described as a Southern African Development Community child.
“Between his mother (a cabaret and jazz singer) and his stepfather (a crime reporter), who took him into the townships at an early age, Johnny was exposed to a broader cultural perspective than that available to his peers,” reads his website biography.
With bands Juluka and Savuka, he merged traditional South African sounds with pop music and created a sensation. “Whilst lecturing anthropology at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, Clegg worked on the concept of blending English lyrics and Western melodies with Zulu musical structures.”
Source: RDM NewsWire