WeeklySA_AdminJURISPRUDENCE: Talented muso lately spent his time on matters of law
By Bongani Mahlangu
About two weeks ago, there was a search for Steve Kekana’s telephone numbers. It was a fishing around that sprang from playing a rarely played soothing ballad titled Come Back Home from his 1986 Love Triangle album.
Lurking behind the hunt was a desire to pay tribute to the Man of Song when he still walked among the mortals. It was a salute that would have focused on at least seven songs in a podcast, including Abuti Thabiso Iphupho, Feel So Strong, Raising My Family Take Your Love And Keep It and Burnout.
Ah! About Burnout. Sipho Hotstix Mabuse, its composer, says papa Steve was not in the picture when he wrote Burnout.
“Steve, with Koos Radebe, walked into the studio when we were listening to the work we had put down. Burnout was on, and in an animated voice, Steve said: ‘Morena! What is this? It is unbelievable!’
Hotstix asked if there was something papa Steve could do in the song. You know, put in it some Steve-on-Steve, the man of Soulful groove vibe in the thing.”He said, well, let me try. He was brief and spontaneous. Steve was just an exceptional vocalist, an artist.”
It was the prodigious artistic core in Steve this writer meant to pay his respect to when he looked for his numbers.
It would have been in a podcast. Part of the light and fun moment of the podcast would have been to verify a story once whispered to the ear.
Legend has it that papa Steve got into a room where there was a function. It did not take long for his senses to sing Jimmy Cliff’s I Can See Clearly Now.
Behold papa Steve had gotten smitten with an effeminate figure beaming in the room.
So, papa Steve whispered to someone in his company: ‘Wow! ke mang die sister o mo pila so. Such a beauty to behold. ‘The companion gave papa Steve a look that said: ‘Hay’bo! Steve! How could you possibly tell, are you not blind?’
Yeah, it could have been one of those silhouettes that are unmistakable when they strike a man of passion.
You see, papa Steve got visually impaired. Max Mojapelo, in his Beyond Memory book, says due to an unidentified illness – Steve lost his sight at age Five. That would be 1960 what Gregory Porter, sixty-three it was.
With the light and vision in him, Steve grew up to distinguish himself among countless talented musicians. Through his singing, many people got to feel his soul. Apart from Lucky Dube, not many could hit a sweet and fragile yet piercing high falsetto note as papa Steve could.
His can-do attitude was on par with that of another visually impaired musician Ray Robinson Charles. Papa Steve did most of the inspirational stuff that crossed his mind.
Among others, he became a Lawyer. A radio presenter and authored a poetry book titled Hlogwana Tsie. He gave politics one of his shots as an independent candidate councillor in the local government elections of 1995.
Papa Steve told Max Mojapelo about his participation in a soccer match and the ease with which he could ride a bicycle. And oh, he liked to ride on a fast machine on the road.
With no eyesight but soulful sight, papa Steve opened the eye of his soul, spread his wings and flew on the back on melodies.
“Affirmative!”
That’s what he said to the Sai Baba’s mantra that:
Life is a song. Sing it. Life is a game. Play it. Life is a challenge. Meet it.”
As a professional, from 1978, Papa Steve sang his life in groovy beats of mbaqanga. Backed by a group called The Pages, he dropped a single called Mamsy. Thus he began writing his name in the hearts of many. Papa Steve soothed the pains through soulful vocal touches. He felt the reggae ire and got it to filter through some of his music. He gently rocked the boat of rock music with ease.
Papa Steve was a man with a vision to do it his way as he felt. That, in a world where men get pressured to fit in a pigeonhole.
It got recorded in history books of men that Heritage month of 1958 witnessed the delivery of a passionate voice. On September 16 of that year, Bolahlakgomo village in Limpopo received a gift on behalf of the world.
The Kekana’s tagged the present Teboho Steve Kekana.Indeed papa Steve rose to be someone to be thankful to have around in the creative world.July 1, 2021, registered the departure of a man whose journey on earth got creatively fruitful.
