Becoming: Bongeziwe Mabandla’s Ndingubani has been gestating for years, waiting for the courage to come into being. Photo: Christopher Saunders
The lights go down at Emperors Palace in Johannesburg and three silhouettes appear in separate pools of light.
One behind a drum kit, one behind a keyboard and one standing centre stage, directly in front of a microphone. The audience, drenched in darkness, falls silent.
Then Bongeziwe Mabandla’s distinctive voice cuts through that silence and the room erupts.
It’s the first South African stop of his world tour and from that opening moment, the evening belongs entirely to him.
