Irene Mawela

Matodzi Irene Mawela (born 3 March 1940) is a South African singer and composer who has been active since the late 1950s. She is known primarily for her contributions to mbaqanga music and songs made in the Tshivenda language, and has contributed to an estimated 1,000 studio recordings and radio transcriptions.

Biography

Mawela was born and raised in a Venda family in Soweto, South Africa, but due to the denigration of the Venda tribe during apartheid rule, she attended a Sesotho-language school. In her teens, she joined a girl group named The Sweet Voices, which was spotted performing at a wedding by talent scout Rupert Bopape. At 17, she signed a contract with Bopape, then a producer for EMI South Africa, and began composing and recording for the inaugural line-up of the Dark City Sisters and a young Simon Nkabinde, not yet famous as Mahlathini. In 1962, she moved to Troubadour Records and joined the popular female group The Sweet Sixteens, as well as backing artists including Dixie Kwankwa and Mabel Mafuya.

Mawela was the first recording artist to make popular music recordings in Tshivenda. Artists were initially forbidden to compose songs in Tshivenda and Xitsonga, which were considered unmarketable languages by the commercial recording industry.

Selected discography 1982: Khanani Yanga 1983: Mme Anga Khotsi Anga 1983: Hao Nkarabe 2004: O Mohau 2007: Tlhokomela Sera 2012: Africa 5 2016: Pembelani 2017: Ari Pembele: Let's Rejoice 2019: The Best of the SABC Years (1982–88)