Cape Town’s all blind gospel group

Michael Stokhwe (57) from Gugulethu and Evelyn Siwa (52) and Vukile Bomela (53) from Mfuleni met at the institute for the blind in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, in the 1970s.

Stokhwe said he was born blind. He said his grandmother, aunt and 25-year-old son are also blind. “For me I think it runs in the family,” he said.

Siwa lost her sight when she was seven-years-old because of measles. She says her parents took her to traditional healers instead of taking her to a clinic.

Bomela says he does not know how he lost his eyesight. “I don’t remember [ever] seeing. I don’t know if I was born like this.”

Siwa, now a mother of two, says they all used to sing together back at school. “That was in the 1970s. In 1980, I dropped out of school.” They were seven then. The other four have passed away over the years.

Siwa met up with Bomela again in 1997 at Mfuleni where they both live. The two tried to open an association for blind people, but because of a lack of finance, they decided to go back to singing.

We asked Stokwe to join us, because we needed someone to sing baritone.

For 14 years, they tried to record a CD. A lack of financial backing was a big barrier to this dream. Being unemployed made their dream seem impossible.

“We never stopped dreaming. We knew that one day we will have a recording deal,” says Siwa. “In 2001, we recorded a demo CD. We sent it to eight radio stations. Six of them gave us a very positive feedback. We even got a sponsor willing to pay fifty percent of the costs, but still we could not afford the remaining R8,000.”

They did not give up, and eventually a good Samaritan, Bomela’s sister, Mhonko Godze, came through for them.

“I could not believe what I was hearing. Finally our dream was becoming true,” says Bomela, who plays piano for the group, while Siwa and Stokhwe sing. “We write our own songs.”

From age 10, he taught himself to play the piano. “There was a piano at school no one was using it. I decided to teach myself how to play.”

Stokwe says, “I used to sing in the choir at school.” He says he always encourages other blind people, including his son, not to be bothered with people who make negative comments. “You know, sometimes you get people asking you silly questions, expecting you to answer them. At first, I used to be bothered, but not any more.”

Their guide, Zimkhitha Godze, says the three might be blind but they can see to the heart of people with their music .

The 12-song CD, 30-years in the making, is called Ulidwala-lamadwala (God is a rock of rocks). The CD launch will be held at the Fountain Hotel in Cape Town on 7 July.