All roads lead to the Joburg Theatre on the 29th and 30th of May, where jazz aficionado Billy Monama serves yet another edition of his signature tribute concerts. This time around, music fanatics get to feast on the music of the First Lady of Song, Sibongile Khumalo, who will be honoured by Tutu Puoane; the legendary Busi Mhlongo, delivered by Zoë Modiga, with Lira’s resilient vocals honouring Miriam Makeba AKA Mama Africa.
Reggae icon Lucky Dube’s music will be delivered by Vusi Nova while the Rebirth of Ubuntu founder brings audiences closer to Alan Kwela, and living legend Jimmy Dludlu will be celebrated as the concert’s honouree.
Despite having lived in Belgium for over two decades, Puoane could not say no to Monama’s call to keep the music of her home country’s trailblazers of yesteryear alive.
She feels this part of South African history enriches a collective Mzansi repertoire that contemporary musicians can draw from. With 2026 simultaneously marking the 50th anniversary of the countrywide 1976 Student Uprisings and the 70th anniversary of the 1956 women’s march to the Union Buildings in protest against pass laws, Puoane acknowledges that not all artists are activists. However, she also believes that the freedom to choose what kind of artists contemporary musicians want to be should not be taken for granted, as it was earned with literal bloodshed and loss of life.
She is not oblivious to the countless talented artists residing in Mzansi and is grateful for the opportunity to lend her talent to the Rebirth of Ubuntu. The musician remembers Khumalo with nothing but fondness, revealing that the two of them shared a close personal friendship. “I used to call her Mama Tshepo. Tshepo is the name of her first-born child,” Puoane recalls.
Asked to share a few of her favourite Sibongile Khumalo tracks, Puoane said, “Not just tracks—the entire album of Ancient Evenings is still my absolute favourite. That vocal arrangement of Thula Mama is still, by far, the best vocal arrangement of that song.”
In recent weeks, some members of the public have taken to the streets in protest against foreign nationals, calling for the deportation of those who are not in the country legally. Most of the artists that Monama’s tribute concerts have celebrated since their inception led with Ubuntu and Pan-Africanism. Puoane asserts that music has always had a way of bringing people together, but she doesn’t necessarily believe that the country’s immigration issues can be mended by this universal language.
All musicians can do, says Puoane, is raise awareness; however, she notes that the bigger responsibility for mending the social fabric of the country lies with the government.
“Our government should take responsibility for this. This shouldn’t be the artists’ burden to fix. Our Ubuntu will always be intact, but when people are suffering and being treated badly, then they also have the right to protest.”
In recent years, the country has experienced a resurgence of tribute concerts by various artists and stakeholders. If one day a future Billy Monama wants to include Puoane in their own tribute concert, the musician says she wishes to leave behind a body of work that people can learn from. This is a phenomenon that seems to already be unfolding, as younger artists continue reaching out to Puoane to enquire about her music. “I’d love to leave harmonically rich songs that can belong to the South African music repertoire.”
Tickets to the Rebirth of Ubuntu can be purchased on webtickets.