Local reggae star joins PAC

Date: 22 April 2011 By: Ndivhuwo Musetha

A well-known reggae artist in Limpopo, Khakhathi Tshisikule of Khakhathi & Friends fame, has joined the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC).

PAC leader in Limpopo Takalani Ligege confirmed that Tshisikule had joined them. Ligege said he was happy that Tshisikule would woo more votes for the party through his good music. "We believe that Tshisikule has always been a PAC man as the messages in his music are the same as ours. When we approached him, he also understood that it was the right thing to join us as he has always been labelled a PAC man by the ruling party because of the messages in his music that challenge poor service given to the community," said Ligege.

Besides being an artist who was loved by the community, Ligege said, Tshisikule was a good public speaker whom they were going to use in their campaigns.

Tshisikule said he decided to join the PAC in order to force the ANC to deliver. "I realized that for the ANC to deliver for the people, they needed a challenge and I am going to do exactly that." Tshisikule has been in the bad books of the ANC for more than a decade, after the release of his second album, Yo Tshaya (it is over). On the album, Tshisikule, who was born and bred in Mbaleni near Thohoyandou, criticised the ANC-led local municipality for failing to deliver water to the people and to maintain roads and streetlights in town.

Although the album was not played on SABC radio programmes, Tshisikule said he was happy with the sales.
Five years ago, Tshisikule made things worse by releasing another album that challenged the sale of land to the Indian business community in Thohoyandou. In the song Li kho u tuwa shango (the land is going), Tshisikule accused the municipal officials of collecting bribes from businesspeople in exchange for land.

Tshisikule says the release of his eighth album, Muthu wa Vhathu, made him realize that his songs were being misinterpreted by some of the ANC councillors at the Thulamela Municipality. In this album, Tshisikule once again challenged the local municipality for refusing hawkers permission to trade in the streets.

He said the municipality´s actions were against ANC policy. Tshisikule said: "Some of the ANC councillors think I am fighting them. It is true that the ANC fought for this democracy, but today they are popular for stealing and pushing corruption."

By joining the PAC, Tshisikule says, he wants people to understand that he is concerned about service delivery to them. "I realized that my contributions were limited by just raising the concerns of the people through my music. Now I want to face ANC councillors and push them to deliver."

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Ndivhuwo Musetha

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