HIS soaring voice and highly charged performance whip audiences into a complete frenzy and drive them to wailing in song with eyes shut at the Loch Logan Rose Garden in Bloemfontein.

This is the Macufe Festival and the beloved son of Africa, Salif Keita, internationally renowned for his emotional performances, is on stage.

That's the picture that played out in my mind as the countdown to the 13th edition of the Mangaung African Cultural Festival reaches fever pitch.

And this picture can play itself out when Keita, popularly known as the Golden Voice of Africa, is billed to take to the stage.

Few people have attended his performances without being touched by his soaring voice and emotionally fuelled songs.

Keita is coming to South Africa for live a performance for the umpteenth time.

And at each performance he has connected with the South African audience like any local artist. He is appreciated and respected here just like artists such as Hugh Masekela.

The performance at Macufe will not be any different when the Malian-born and Paris-based legend takes to the stage. And you can bet your last cent that when he renders Africa many will be in tears.

Keita is billed to perform in a line-up featuring some of South Africa's popular performers such as Lira, Tsepo Tshola and one of the US R&B biggest stars in Gerald Albright during the 10-day festival.

Other artists billed for the main event are Ringo Madlingozi, Bloemfontein-based Kaya and Peter Nthwane, Fossils Max-Hoba and many others.

But it is Keita who will be sure to have the crowd eating out of his hand. He has toured the world over with his 11-piece band made up of members from his native Mali and the US.

His latest album, La Difference, which is dedicated to albinos, went on sale last year. The royalties will be channelled to a charitable organisation designed to help Malian albinos and to facilitate the fight against discrimination.

"La Difference is about albinos. It is also about me. We pay tribute to the albinos, their courage, their pain and injustices they are often victim to. Though the phenomenon has now declined there are still cases," he is quoted as saying.

The album, with songs from previous recordings and four new tracks, is said to be his way of relaying a message of love and joy to albinos with lyrics in Mandika and Bambara.

Macufe organisers promise a big and better edition with events appealing to everyone. It will feature the cream of African and international artists in a wide spectrum of disciplines that covers music, drama, comedy, fine art and traditional arts.

Born an albino, which in some part of the continent was considered a sign of bad luck, Keita was shunned and ostracised by his family and community.

His poor eyesight also contributed to his personal sense of alienation. In 1967, he moved to Bamako where he began playing in nightclubs with one of his brothers.

Undoubtedly what draws people to his music is Keita's sound that is a blend of his childhood Malian traditional griot with other West African influences from Guinea, the Ivory Coast, and Senegal, along with influences from Cuba, Spain, and Portugal. It has an unmistakably overall Islamic sound.

Keita's sound also infuses traditional African instruments such as the kora, balafon, and djembe, often synthesised and sampled.

Born albino in a land of blistering sun and heat, with limited eyesight and poor background, his mother had to hide him to avoid the attacks of the superstitious crowds who were baying for his blood.