20 June 2023

In June, back in 2006, musician Robert Sithole was laid to rest. He left this world penniless and almost unheralded. But it could have been so different. A gifted teen who could play his instrument like few could. But who was Robert Sithole?

Back in the early ’60s, when busking wasn’t really a thing, three kids from the very wrong side of town were capturing the hearts of people who heard them – while the cops, in turn, were trying their damndest to capture them.

Those three kids were the Kwela Kids – brothers Robert and Josh Sithole and friend Isaac Ngoma – who entertained thousands upon thousands of passers-by on the streets in the centre of Cape Town over many, many years.

The main attraction was this strikingly handsome teenager, Robert. He blew the bejesus out of his instrument, a tin pennywhistle, belting out kwela tunes made so very popular in township by Johannesburg musician Spokes Mashiyane. As Robert Sithole played, he danced. Fancy footsteps. Nimble feet.

All the while Robert weaved his magic (and Josh and Isaac provided the backing), the crowd gathered. And gathered. As long as they played, the people showed their appreciation, showering pennies, tickeys, and even sixpences (maybe a bob or half-crown too).

People stood sometimes five or 10-deep somewhere along the pavement in Adderley, Strand or St Georges streets, causing endless issues with congestion and forcing people to walk by in the traffic.

Then, in the middle of a solo by Robert, they’d be gone.  Along with the coins that came their way. In the same spot would be two sheepish, red-faced policemen – the “boere” in the vernacular – wanting to arrest them for “causing a disturbance”. They’d be alerted by their lookouts that the ”boere” were nearby and they’d be off, leaving people wondering “who were these kids who played such entertaining kwela songs”. Thus was born the Kwela Kids.

I was one of those captivated by these amazingly entertaining individuals. I saw them when I made my home from school and when I started working as a journalist in the ’60s. Most times it would be near the entrance to Cape Town station which provided a quick exit when the cops came close. The Kwela Kids were my first real exposure to live entertainment. And I loved it!

Veteran Cape Town performer and promoter Jay Jay/Jason King was one of the first to recognise their talent and had them on his variety shows in Athlone in 1965.

“They were brilliant stage performers – not sophisticated, but the crowds loved their energetic style. It was different. Robert and Josh were on flute and Isaac “Duke” Ngoma played the tea box bass, the poor man’s bass that bassists used in skiffle groups.

Jay Jay also is also one of the few people who managed to get the boys into a recording studio. “I had them record Watermelon Man on a seven single for me on my Jaybird label at Audio Visual studios in Cape Town. I don’t think there are too many copies of it around by now.”

Another person who remembers those days well is veteran singer Joe Schaffers who lived up the road in Bloemhof Flats in District 6.

“I saw them quite often in the city,” Joe recalls. “You couldn’t miss them. There would be the unmistakable sounds of a kwela tune being played on a pennywhistle coming from somewhere and then you’d see the gathering. It was just magic watching those boys work a crowd.

“Just when things would start to get really cool, they would take off in a flash with their coins to avoid imminent arrest. Their lookout would tip them off that the cops were closing in and they would be gone. If you were still wondering around the city an hour or so later you’d find them entertaining the crowd in another spot . . . until the cops forced another disappearing act!”

On occasion, long after the steam ran out of the Kwela Kids act, Joe came across Robert who had added the saxophone to his bow. “Robert was always around the clubs, looking for gigs. I can’t say that he had any regular work even though he could entertain a crowd.”

Many years later, in post-apartheid South Africa, Joe and Robert’s paths would cross again when Robert scored regular gigs at the District 6 Museum where Joe worked as a tour guide.

But before that, when Robert was trying to make it on his own, he, with the help of some benefactors including the ANC, made his way to London to study and further his career.

Things didn’t go well for Robert in the UK. He fell on hard times and his health was failing. Messages were coming back home that he was seen begging on London streets. In 1998 Robert sent word to his family that he was stranded and wanted to come home.  They sent money to bring him back.

There is not much documented anywhere about his stay in the UK. He played with a few expat South African musicians and made a cameo appearance playing the pennywhistle in a video celebrating the 150^th anniversary of the Clarke Tinwhistle Company which manufactured pennywhistles. He also played a set on stage with Mary Bergin and Bill Och, both noted players of the pennywhistle.

A company spokesman said they remembered Robert being part of the day’s festivities in 1993.

“Robert was staying in London for his visit, but he did accompany us for day up to the Coney Weston, Suffolk where the celebrations took place for the day,” the spokesman said. “Being nearly 30 years ago, our collective memory of the day is somewhat sketchy, but I believe he enjoyed the festivities and playing with other whistle virtuosos. He was some player!”

Paddy Lee-Thorp who managed Jonathan Butler, Zane Adams and Pacific Express back in the ’70s and ’80s, remembers Robert as a very talented but troubled musician.

“I arranged quite a few gigs at UCT back then and Robert was one of the many musicians I engaged to perform,” Paddy said. “He was talented but, in a way, he was an overlooked talent. People outside of the townships never took to the pennywhistle sounds as much as was expected. In a broad sense, the pennywhistle wasn’t everyone’s jazz instrument.

“I got the impression that Robert felt his talent was being marginalised because the people weren’t really that interested, and he developed a complex about this.

“But he was at times his own worst enemy. As professional musicianship goes, I sometimes felt he flew by the seat of his pants.

“Robert has no legacy in terms of a recording that people can remember him by. There is no vinyl out there that people cherish because they have something of the Kwela Kids. Which is sad really. He played Spokes Mashiyane material and Mankunku stuff which was him making a statement about being an African.”

Paddy remembers coming across Robert when he was living in London but it wasn’t the best of circumstances. “I was descending into one of those deep tunnels of the London Underground in 1992 when I heard this beautiful pennywhistle sound coming to meet me. It took me back to Cape Town and Greenmarket Square where I had heard him play.  I went slowly down the stairs and there he was. He greeted me in the way he always did: ‘hey dad’. He was eking out an existence as a busker. That saddened me.”

After coming back from a largely unremarkable stay in London, being back home was supposed to be an opportunity to hit the refresh button. But fate conspired it to be otherwise.  He landed the gig at the D6 Museum but it was during his time there that he suffered a stroke and his health declined gradually. Heavy smoking damaged his lungs, he had heart issues, kidney issues and part of his leg was amputated because of poor blood circulation.

In June, 2006 Robert Sithole died at the age of 61. The kid who was born in District 6 in 1945, kicked out at a tender age because of the colour of his skin to go and live in Rylands and then Gugulethu, died without achieving his potential.

In a strange, almost perverse way that is so like apartheid South Africa, Robert and the Kwela Kids did achieve fame. The trio and Robert on his own were painted by Russian-born artist Tretchikoff who had settled in Cape Town. His Pennywhistlers and a Robert Sithole solo portrait was a huge success. Copies of the paintings were to be found in homes across the world. In 2016, the original of the Pennywhistlers sold for £50,000 (R1.1m). Both works made Tretchikoff a small fortune and still sells on online auction rooms.

On the flipside, Josh Sithole, had a modest degree of success as a solo artist and recorded an album called Cecilia. Isaac Ngoma, as far as I know, never moved the dial on the entertainment scene anywhere.

Robert Sithole died penniless. Go figure.

 

All pictures sources from social media except the clipping from the Golden City Post.

Click here to view the video clip of Robert Sithole playing at the centenary of the Clarke Tinwhistle Company. Robert plays around the 49sec mark.