(South African Zionist Church Choir) Blessing Of Christ - "Kuhle Moya Wami" ("It Is Well With My Soul")

 rebsnrebs, Jun 8, 2011

ZION GOSPEL MUSIC BY BLESSINGS OF CHRIST CHOIR.

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcase a 2011 YouTube video of the South African Zionist Church choir Blessing Of Christ singing "Kulhle Moya Wami". Google translate gives the Zulu to English translation of those words as "Good my Soul". However, a commenter in this discussion thread gave this English  translation for those Zulu words "It Is Well With My Soul".

This post also includes some comments from that video's discussion thread.

The content of this post is presented for religious, cultural, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights  remain with their owners.

Thanks to the Blessing Of Christ choir for their musical and religious legacy. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this video on YouTube. 
-snip-
Click for the closely related pancocojams post entitled
That post provides brief information about Zionist churches in South Africa. 

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THIS VIDEO'S DISCUSSION THREAD
Most of the comments in that discussion thread are written in Zulu.

These are some of the comments from that discussion thread that are completely or partially written in English. 

Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giEXtWembpA

1. @ASPRINALARD, 2011
"This is amazing talent right here! Everyone chips in at the right time and the base is so brilliant! You will never find this anywhere else other than the great Africa!"

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2. @LoveMusicBad, 2011
"I love my roots.  I am Zion Revival from Jamaica...and this is the roots...yeah, the Mother of us."

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3. @AngelicaChosen, 2012
"bless your children oh God Great Jehovah"

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4..@Thatubu, 2012
"The words follow, with a substantive and non-literal translation to English.

Kuhle Moya Wami, (It is well with my soul)

Ukumkhonza Usaphila (To praise Him while you are still alive)

Noma kukhupukeka, Noma kwehlela, Noma kunzima, ngobambelela (In times of trial, I will hold on to my faith)l

Ngobambelela (I will keep holding...to my my faith)"

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5. @mothergeorgi, 2012
"I  LOVE THIS MUSIC, BUT I CAN NOT UNDERSTAND IT.  I only speak English can someone add English subtitles. Or can someone leave a comment about the words. Would that be possible please.  I can feel the Sprit of God in the sound it would be nice to know what it is expressing in the words.  Thanks for the HELP."

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6. @mothergeorgi, 2012
"Thank You NOSIPHO PERCIVAL,  I listen to these songs daily.  Can you add more as to what BLESSING.  I FEEL THE SPRIT IN THE SOUND.  Oh yes what is the movement in the steps mean, I see this often in their songs. As well as what are the wooden pieces in the brothers hands represent/for.  Can you please tell me.  May God Bless You.   Mother Georgi  in S.C."
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There isn’t any response to these questions in that discussion thread. I found information about why that the men in the Zionist church carry in a 1997 dissertation from a South African university. Read that long passage in this pancocojams post https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/03/dance-in-south-africas-zionist_12.html

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7. @88LEBXION1GP, 2013
"u can feel the anointing, wow I am Blessed!!!"

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8. @clareattehayes4453, 2013
"I don't understand what you saying but I love this song"

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9. @smangasydneykhumalo1761, 2013
"Oh Jesus Christ my best song in Zion, wow am so blessed. Thank you so much for uploading this video"

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10. @PastorBrianR, 2014
"Can someone tell me the translation of the words in English? Sounds beautiful choir!"

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Reply
11. @blumatta , 2014
"It is well with my soul. In trials and tribulations (storms alike) I will always hold on to/heed HIS word."
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Reply
12. @PastorBrianR, 2014
"Thanks brother for the lyrics"

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13. @Maxximillion100, 2014
"the bass though!!! omg... so rich... beautiful, though I don't know what they are saying I am blessed because God is universal and so is His Spirit."

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14. @freedomofspeech, 2014
"Umculo waseZion umnandi kodwa...May God bless every soul whos watching this."
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Google translate from Zulu to English: "Umculo waseZion umnandi kodwa" =  "Zion music is great though"

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15. @nxumalobongumusa5110, 2015
"no matter how difficult it is, just believe in Him and say it z well with my soul'"

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16. @bettymotau8820, 2015
"I feel blessed listening to zion"
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17. @qhaweteyise1955, 2015
"I am a bonafide Methodist however, this music speaks to me deep down,,,"
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18. @katelove8171, 2015
"i lik the way the lady lead singer does her thing. kool, easy and calm. relaxed and at rest in the Lord."

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19. @lalananalala4593, 2016
"yooo bless me Lord I love this song"

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20. @luthandogushman, 2016
"I'm not from any Zion church, I was never a fan but this sound is worth listening to! too nice!"
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Reply
21. @suzienduna7514, 2017
"Thanx Zion is lovely church..."
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Reply
22. @sbahledlamini1893, 2017
"same here I can't stop listening to these beautiful voices"

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23. @bobstephen782, 2017
"Love the style of worship"

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24. @lovecynthia3629, 2017
"im not from zion church but this worship song it blesses my heart........"

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25. @suzienduna7514, 2017
"am from Zion this lovely #### muhle wami"
-snip-
Google translate from Zulu to English "muhle wami" = "my beautiful”

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26. @serrahmthembu9330, 2017
"ohhh God this song. I love it!"

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27. @mbuleloluckyboy9356, 2017
"this music realy brings joy and understanding that god is watching over us. tyank you."

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28. @thembakhoza9339, 2017
"Ammmmenn!!! Praise be the Lord"

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29. @preteniamafefe3491, 2018
"Golden voices, lovely song. I love your Gospel guys especially this song."

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30. @nolethumkatsitsi7896,2018
"i love this song especially when you from zion"

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31. @dylotwice3881, 2018
"nice arrangement...nd chupchup...."
-snip-
"Chupchup" is the distinctive repetitive background sound that some men make during South African Zionist singing. That sound adds another rhythmic layer to those songs   "Chuff chuff" is another term for this sound.  Here's a definition from https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/chuff 
"To chuff is to breathe with an audible puff sound. You might chuff in the cold air as you jog down a frozen winter street.

Anyone who huffs and puffs can be said to chuff, although the old-fashioned verb is often used to describe the sharp puffing sound made by a steam engine."

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32. @nolethumkatsitsi7896, 2018
"I'm also zion"

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33. @kgomtsomphojane2129, 2018
"I love Zion  church  of  christ"
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34. @ndabezinhlemntungwa6754, 2018
"Zion : the only church where the entire congregation is mad talent.."
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The vernacular English meaning for the word "mad" in this sentence is "very".

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35. @vhaleryrachel6635, 2018
"that's my favourite music ( I'm the link of Zion)"

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36. @namapumaramodise1884, 2018
"I feel blessed with this song of amazion. This makes me see God each time I listen to them. Keep singing  and blessing."

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Reply
37. @MsLexitude, 2019
"@namapumaramodise1884  I always tell my Zion friend the same"

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38. @phenyosennanyana6792, 2019
"When im down this song lift my spirit"

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39. @sharingfamspace3156, 2019
"1.2million views but godly humble and not raving about it.stay blessed"
-snip-
The total number of views as of March 13, 2024 at 9:37 AM Eastern time is 3,316,361.

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40.@nhlanhla123zulu9, 2019
"Noma kunzima ngobambelela..... I'm not a Zion by birth but this song takes me home.... GOD BLESS YOU ALL."
-snip-
Google translation from Zulu to English ="Noma kunzima ngobambelela" = "Even if it's hard to hold on"

I think that in the context of this song "hold on" means to "keep the faith"; "be resolute in your beliefs and following the tenets of your religion".

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41. @sisindisiwejiyane9910, 2019
"loving the sound of Zion music.....feel blessed"

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42.@sollysambo325, 2019
"Ngobambelela noma kunzima 2019 I'm still listening to u guys big up blessing of Christ zion rocks"
-snip-
"Ngobambelela noma kunzima" = "Hold on even if it's hard"

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43. @lilianrahlogo3090, 2020
"I love this song it heals my soul"

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44. @adelaidematlala2605, 2020
"2020 Lockdown??" [followed by a crying face emoji and red heart emoji]

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45. @nontobekonkonyane5556, 2020
"My Grandfather Moses Nkonyane and his Two friends they were from Swaziland Founded Zion . Their Vision was to start a Church that depended on God ( Jehovah ELohim ) entirely and completely."

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46. @siphiwengcobo2279, 2020
"I'm not a Zion my dad was, but this song is does things to me."


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47. @lunganibiyela1690, 2020
"This song has gotten me through so much"

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48. @kathlolothupe2612, 2021
"Mom always plays this... Appreciate her more for introducing us to such music"

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49.@thabanemahomed8664, 2021
"Still an amazing zion song"

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50. @TakalaniJMpofu, 2021
"This music is therapeutic and makes the heart and the soul communicate"

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51. @jabuhlatshwayo8695, 2021
"Nomakhunzima I'll keep on holding. Thank you for this motivating song that's keeping me strong no matter how hard it sometimes gets."

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52. @marthmfn9707, 2023
"The singing process and rhythm maintenance is naturally done by African people. They do it all relaxed and happy.

What an inspiration.

I rest my case!"

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53. @bonganibongani8370, 2022
"Wonderful music in Zion"

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54. @cynthiamphobothe447, 2022
"OH!!! Man what a beautiful voices i'm so touched by this song keep doing what u are doing healing our nation thank u Amen"

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55. @user-mx3vc2nn1s, 2023
"I'm so in love with this song"

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56. @user-ox3kx7eo5d, 2023
"God  bless [followed by a red heart emoji]"

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57. @vusivusimuzijohannes4544, 2023
"My mom was at ZION UNDER ASIA AT SOWETO and always when I rember her usually playing this zion song, may her soul rest in peace I will always miss her nad God be with her and also give us blessing for my entire family."

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58. @BoitumeloQwabe-lr8un, 2023
"It is my spiritual song , when they sing it at church I feel emotional"

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59. @bushulasiphokazi3492, 2023
"[two red heart emoji] these songs remind me of my grandma"

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60. @TYRN_ROWANS, 2024
"2024 the song still slaps hard"
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"Slaps hard" is an African American originated term that means that something or someone is "very good" (hits all the points that someone or something needed to accomplish to do something really well)

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61. @LwethuVilakazi-bi5if, 2024
"this song has carried me thru so many hardships . it is still my go-to song when I'm not feeling well"

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Visitor comments are welcome.

Dance In South Africa's Zionist Christian Churches & How That Dance May Have Influenced South African School Assembly Singing

All Nations Christian Church Official, Aug 16, 2022

All Nations Christian Church in Zion Headquarters Ezulwini/Lobamba Eswatini (under Archbishop B.R Lukhele) singing Sizobizwa Masinyane led by Evangelist Scelimpilo Zwane.

🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍

All Nations to the World

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams provides brief information about Zion (Christian denominations) in South Africa.

This post also showcases two YouTube videos of South African Zionist churches singing religious songs and dancing and two videos of South African secondary school morning assembly students singing religious songs and dancing.

The Addendum to this post showcases two videos of the toyi toyi protest dance/march. I included those videos in this post because the dissertation that is excerpted in a closelyrelated pancocojams post indicates that youth have incorporated toyi toyi dance movements into their Zionist church dancing.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/03/dance-in-south-africas-zionist.html for a closely related pancocojams post about dancing, singing, and worshipping in South Africa's Zionist churches. That post presents excerpts from an April 1997 dissertation by Sibusiso Emmanuel Pewa. hat dissertation is entitled "Song, Dance And Worship In The Zionist Christian Churches: An Ethnomusicological Study Of African Music and Religion". That dissertation was submitted to the Faculty of Arts of the University of Zululand in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters Of Music.

The complete text of that dissertation is available online, and pancocojams visitors are encouraged to read it in its entirety. However, that post focuses on excerpts of that dissertation that provide information about dance in South Africa's Zionist churches.

The content of this post is presented for historical, socio-cultural, and educational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos. Thanks also to the producers and publishes of these videos on YouTube and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

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BRIEF INFORMATION ABOUT THE ZION CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA
Excerpt #1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Zionism
African Zionism, (also "amaZioni" from Zulu "people of Zion") is a religious movement with 15–18 million members throughout Southern Africa, making it the largest religious movement in the region. It is a combination of Christianity and African traditional religion. Zionism is the predominant religion of Eswatini and forty percent of Swazis consider themselves Zionist. It is also common among Zulus in South Africa. The amaZioni are found in South Africa, Eswatini, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia.[1] A large organization within this movement is the Zion Christian Church."...

History

The Zionist churches of southern Africa were founded by Petrus Louis Le Roux, an Afrikaner faith healer.[2] He was a former member of the Dutch Reformed Church who joined John Alexander Dowie's Christian Catholic Church based in Zion, Illinois. In 1903 Dowie sent a Daniel Bryant to South Africa to work alongside Le Roux. In 1908 Daniel Nkonyane became the leader of the church. By the 1920s the church in Africa was entirely separated from its American version. In the mid-1980s the church in Zion, Illinois (now called Christ Community Church) began reestablishing a connection with the Zion movement in Southern Africa. The church works through an agency called Zion Evangelical Ministries of Africa or ZEMA. In South Africa, churches were established at Wakkerstroom and Charlestown on the Transvaal-Natal border."...

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Excerpt #2
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zionist-church
"Zionist church, any of several prophet-healing groups in southern Africa; they correspond to the independent churches known as Aladura (q.v.) in Nigeria, “spiritual” in Ghana, and “prophet-healing churches” in most other parts of Africa.

The use of the term Zion derives from the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church in Zion, founded in Chicago in 1896 and having missionaries in South Africa by 1904. That church emphasized divine healing, baptism by threefold immersion, and the imminent Second Coming of Christ. Its African members encountered U.S. missionaries of the Apostolic Faith pentecostal church in 1908 and learned that the Zion Church lacked the second Baptism of the Spirit (recognition of extra powers or character); they therefore founded their own pentecostal Zion Apostolic Church. The vast range of independent churches that stem from the original Zion Apostolic Church use in their names the words Zion (or Jerusalem), Apostolic, Pentecostal, Faith, or Holy Spirit to represent their biblical charter, as for example the Christian Catholic Apostolic Holy Spirit Church in Zion of South Africa. These are known in general as Zionists or Spirit Churches.

The churches were introduced into Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) in the 1920s by migrant workers returning from South Africa; endless schisms and new foundations followed. In the mid-1980s the largest was the African Apostolic Church of Johane Maranke, which claimed about 260,000 adherents in Zimbabwe and many others in surrounding countries.

Since the 1920s the racial and political concerns shared with Ethiopianism (an earlier movement toward religious and political autonomy) have declined, especially in South Africa; the better established Zionists have become Ethiopian in type, or more like white evangelical or revivalist churches. These tendencies are apparent in the two largest South African groups—the Zion Christian Church (founded 1925), whose membership is estimated at 80,000 to 600,000, and Limba’s austere Church of Christ (founded 1910), which had about 120,000 members in the 1980s."....

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #2 OF MEMBERS OF A SOUTH AFRICAN ZIONIST CHURCH SINGING AND DANCING 

All Nation - Imihla Nama Langa with Prof. MM. Tshabalala (BIC) and Bishop S.Mahlangu (CGM).

Intungwa Video Production, Jul 17, 2023

All Nation performing live at Soweto by: Intungwa Video Production
-snip-
Here's information about Soweto from 
"Soweto ... is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships.[5] Formerly a separate municipality, it is now incorporated in the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, and one of the suburbs of Johannesburg."
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Click https://www.gov.za/about-sa/south-africas-provinces to read about South Africa's provinces. Here's the first two sentences of that article:

"South Africa has nine provinces, which vary considerably in size. The smallest is tiny and crowded Gauteng, a highly urbanised region, and the largest the vast, arid and empty Northern Cape, which takes up almost a third of South Africa’s total land area."...

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TWO SHOWCASE VIDEOS OF SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOL STUDENTS SINGING RELIGIOUS SONGS

Showcase Video #1 - Ndisondela Kuwe, Ndiza Ndithandaza ( I Draw Near To You Praying)🙏

South African School Assembly Music+Gwijo, Jul 4, 2023  #southafricanschools #worshipsong #praiseandworship

#school #worshipsong #southafricanschools #assembly #praiseandworship #prayer
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Here are a few comments from another video of this same school:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXgCxI4Enps "Ndikhokhele Bawo, Yawa LeMbewu, Mandigasali Medley..Patiently Watch It gets Better ❤️‍🔥🙌🙌❤️‍🔥",  July 2, 2023 South African School Assembly Music+Gwijo, July 2, 2023.

This school assembly's rendition of the traditional Xhosa song "Ndikhokhele Bawo" went viral.

1. @perpsabraham6734,2023

"Which school is this kindly?"

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Reply
2. @schoolassembly_gwijo, 2023
"Combination of schools in Motherwell, but we using the premises of a school Called Soqhayisa Senior Secondary School"

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Reply
3. @schoolassembly_gwijo,2023
"It's at the premises of  Soqhayisa but congregating various schools who are part of the ProMaths Kutlwanong Initiative to better Maths and Science in previously disadvantaged learners in Motherweĺl Gqeberha'

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Here's information about Motherwell from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motherwell,_South_Africa
"Motherwell is a township in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It forms part of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality which is the metropolitan area comprising Gqeberha,

 Despatch, Uitenhage and other surrounding towns."
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"Gqeberha" was formerly known as "Port Elizabeth".  

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Showcase Video #2 - Phathakahle high school Zion music

rose shoba, Mar 1, 2018
-snip-
Here are a few comments from this video's discussion thread, with numbers added for referencing purposes only.:

 1. @nkanyezinxumalo6626, 2020
"where is this school?"

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Reply
2. @thokozanikhumalo1809, 2020
"Verdriet in Dannhauser

located in , Amajuba District Municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa"

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3. @ramaitemasipa6551,2021
"I've been here since yesterday night   I'm enjoying the song but I'm struggling to hear what lyrics says. Can someone please help. They reminded me of church"

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Reply
4. @bonganipeter9433, 2023
"Zazikhona izinto awuzange usishiye mdali wethu

 Awzange usishiye wena mdali wethu"
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Google Translate from Zulu and from Xhosa to English:
"There were things that our creator did not leave us

You did not leave us, our creator

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ADDENDUM - TWO SHOWCASE VIDEOS OF TOYI TOYI

Showcase Video #1 - Toyi-Toyi Dance Revolution: The Rhythms of South African Protest | Ethnomusicology Explained!

WARNING - This video includes includes violent scenes and also includes one curse word. 

 

 Ethnomusicology Explained!, Nov 2, 2015  #southafricanculture #africandance #politicalprotest

Dive into Part 3 of our South African music series with a focus on the powerful toyi-toyi, a dance that became the heartbeat of protest against apartheid. Experience the energy and the spirit of resistance through the rhythmic chants and moves that once empowered Zimbabwean freedom fighters and learn how it evolved into a symbol of unity and defiance in South Africa.

Texts:

Michie and Gamede, 'The Toyi-toyi was our Weapon' in Sounds of Resistance: The Role of Music in Multicultural Activism (2013).

Hirsch, Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony (2002)

Music:

ANC Youth Choir - Toyi-toyi Rhythm

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Showcase Video #2 - Human Rights Day 2007 toyi toyi1



Sifuna Zonke, Uploaded on May 11, 2008

APF Human Rights Day protest
-snip-
Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vu74VFdkew "Township of Jo Slovo Toi Toi for their homes! (pt 2)" for another video of toyi toyi. 
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This concludes Part II of this pancocojams series.

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