Famous SA song writer Neill Solomon has composed a song for refugees and people forcefully displaced from their countries of origin by war, political violence, threats to life or natural disasters.
A documentary about the pains faced by refugees was aired at the Nelson Mandela Foundation by the Turquoise Harmony Institute, a Johannesburg based NGO that facilitates peace talks, education, religious tolerance and communication within communities and races.
Sello Hatang, chief executive of the Mandela Foundation, thanked the Turquoise Harmony Institute for organising the launch of the meaningful song, saying the desire of people who have left their homes to obtain a safer and more peaceful life is a fundamental human right.
Hatang also expressed his utmost regret for the racist treatment of black students in Ukraine.
A panel discussion around displacement, xenophobia and social cohesion was held as a part of the launch, moderated by broadcaster Iman Rappetti. Radio 702's Aurelie Kalenga, the Department of Arts, Culture Sport and Recreation’s director of social cohesion Abraham Serote, medical doctor and acclaimed researcher Emmanuel Taban, Neill Solomon and Amnesty International’s SA director Shenilla Mohamed took part in the programme as panellists.
Mohamed spoke of the collapse of the asylum management system in South Africa, while Dr Taban detailed the difficulties he faced in South Africa, where he came as an asylum seeker and mentioned the importance of being there for people forced to leave their countries.
Sifiso Mahlangu, editor of The Star newspaper, who participated in the programme, said it was very valuable for the few Turkish hizemet volunteers to continue the work towards social cohesion by programmes such as this.
The Homeland song was recorded at Flame Studio, an art-music company which has recently started its activities at the Constitutional Hill. Flame Studios extended a hand to house, contribute and develop Homeland: A Song for Refugees.
Performing the emotional song at the event was also SA music legend, Sipho Hot-stick Mabuse.
Executive director of Turquoise Harmony Institute Ayhan Cetin told the story of the Homeland song and the documentary by saying: “In 2020, the Homeland song was sung for the first time at the refugees’ concert organised by Turquoise. It was rearranged and performed by 20 musicians from South Africa. Grammy-winning South African flute player, composer, producer Wouter Kellerman, Emmy-winning producer JB Arthur and Yvonne Chaka featured, among others.
The South African Philharmonic Orchestra also contributed to the song's music.
“We translated the song Homeland into different languages. There are currently versions in Arabic and French. With the homeland song and documentary, we have a goal of raising awareness about the difficulties experienced by people who have to leave their homes and homelands, and to try to change the negative narrative around refugees and other forcibly displaced people.”
Cetin explained the newly completed documentary project as follows, “We made a documentary centered on the Homeland song. In the documentary, we interviewed artists who sang this song, leading opinion leaders in South Africa, and refugees from different countries who had to leave their homelands and come to South Africa.”
According to Migration Policy Institute, immigration has tended to increase over recent decades, particularly since the arrival of democracy and end of apartheid in 1994. The government’s statistical agency, Statistics South Africa, has estimated that a net 853 000 people migrated to the country over the 2016-21 period,
“Due to its middle-income status, stable democratic institutions, and comparatively industrialised economy, South Africa hosts the largest number of immigrants on the African continent. According to official estimates, the country is home to about 2.9 million immigrants, which would account for slightly less than 5 percent of the overall population of 60 million people. However, this number is thought to be an underestimate because of the presence of large numbers of unauthorised migrants, particularly from neighbouring countries.
Overall, three-quarters of South Africa’s immigrants are from elsewhere on the African continent, according to the country’s 2011 census, which is its most recent. Of these Africans, 68 percent originated from elsewhere within the 16-country Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Zimbabwe was the largest origin country, accounting for 24 percent of all immigrants, according to 2020 United Nations data. South Africa also attracts a sizeable number of immigrants from Europe and North America.”