Johannesburg - Some of the prominent musicians from Durban who on Thursday endorsed the African National Congress (ANC) have defended their actions saying in a free, plural and democratic society, even artists have a right to openly associate themselves with political parties.
The artists on Wednesday publicly endorsed the party and hit the road to canvass for it. Among the places they visited to canvas voters was the main campus of the University of South Africa in central Durban where they handed ANC T-shirts and verbally passed the party's message to potential voters.
DJ Sox (Mbuso Sokhela) said for him there was nothing secret and surprising as his vote is for the ANC, a party he is a branch member of ward 35 in Umhlanga. He said even though it has “made some mistakes” along the way, it can still cleanse itself.
“My vote is not secret, it will never be a secret, I am a member of the ANC… I was fortunate enough to see changes from pre-1994 to the current dispensation and because of that, my loyalty is with the ANC, I do understand and see the problems within the party but I will still give it a chance as I believe it can cleanse itself and move forward,” he said.
Mondli Ngcobo, the musician who shot to fame with Koze Kuse, Ukhozi FM’s 2015 song of the year, said there is no problem with being open about one political affiliation and encouraged the lovers of his music to stick to their choices if they like but he will definitely vote for the ANC.
“We are a free country and free to support whoever you like and my fans are free to choose the DA or EFF or whichever party they like. My music has nothing to do with that,” Ngcobo said.
Another disc jockey, Dj Happygal (Happy Ndlovu), said her political preferences have nothing to do with her “work as an artist” and said it was not something new to have artists coming out to support parties.
“Like me as an artist and that is my work. Don’t confuse that with my political affiliation or preferences, so I see nothing wrong with my endorsement,” she responded when asked about the risks that comes with public endorsements of political parties.
Other musicians that attended the public endorsement at the party’s provincial headquarters in the city centre includes, DJ Siyanda (Siyanda Tshabala) and kwaito artist, Tzozo (Thokozani Zulu).