Durban — Legendary guitarist Mzwakhe “Madala” Kunene was honoured at the Van Toeka Af Living Legends Awards held in Hillary, Durban, on Thursday.
The Van Toeka Af Awards were the sixth edition to honour living legends in the creative industry.
Kunene was the sixth, and the first recipient was the poet and historian Professor Pitika Ntuli, followed by legendary photographer and artist Peter Magubane, poet and writer Dr James Mathews, Xhosa traditional musician the late Lafozi Madosini, and playwright and actor John Kani.
Kunene, 76, grew up in Umkhumbane, Cato Manor. He started playing a home-made guitar at the age of 7. His guitar was made of a 5-litre cooking oil tin, wood and fishing line.
Kunene rose to play alongside the likes of Paul Simon, who toured several countries.
Among the artists he discovered was Mthuthu Ndebele, who abandoned house music and released an album which was produced by Kunene himself playing the guitar.
At the event, Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Zizi Kodwa called for the renaming of streets and buildings after heroes and heroines while they were still alive.
“It would be nice to have a street, beach or building named after Madala Kunene. It would be a great honour for him to see the street or beach while he is still alive so let’s give flowers to our heroes and heroines while they can still smell them,” Kodwa said.
All the speakers hailed the legendary artists for their respect and called on young artists to emulate them.
The Zulu royal family and King Misuzulu were represented by the king’s spokesperson, Prince Africa of Onkweni, who commended the minister and the awards for honouring heroes and heroines of the province while still alive.
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Daily News