Musician Nothembi turns her home into museum

Queen of Ndebele music Nothembi Mkhwebane has turned her home in Pretoria into an arts and music centre to empower her community. 

Mkhwebane, a seasoned musician said through the centre, she wants to develop skills of both young and old.

The centre started at her garage in 2019 and has grown in the past three years.

Due to the demand of the skills offered, Mkhwebane was forced to build a bigger space through the help of department of sport, arts and culture. 

There, people are taught how to create beaded products, art and ornaments.

Mkhwebane also uses the centre to share the Ndebele culture, teach indigenous instruments, music and share indigenous food knowledge with younger generation.

Crafters create beaded necklaces, earrings, bracelets and keyholders.

Others use reeds to create African grass mat. When Sowetan visited Mkhwebane on Saturday, she had new students who wanted to learn various skills. 

“I realised that I am getting old and I need to share the knowledge I have with young people. I started this centre because people always wanted to know about the Ndebele culture because of how I dress. I decided to start this centre where they can learn all these craft skills. 

“We don’t use sewing machines in this centre. We teach you to use your hand to create craft-made products and be able to sell them. We teach you how to cut patterns and use needle and thread to create to saw. We also teach them how to use beads to decorate various products. We are still looking for ways to have monthly markets where all products produced here could be sold.” 

Mkhwebane’s arts centre also teaches people how to use discarded material and turn it into different craft products.

They use card boxes and cut them to create beautiful decorative sculptures that can decorate your home.  

The music legend has released a string of albums and collaborated with the likes of Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse, Yvonne Chaka Chaka and Phuzekhemisi. 

“We also share with them how we lived our lives before and the food that was eaten. We share knowledge of how we treated old people and how people behaved then. The plan is to empower them with this knowledge so that they can decide if they want to apply it in their lives.

“I also teach them to play indigenous instruments because there are not many people who play these instruments. Since I want our culture preserved I also teach them how to be a proud Ndebele woman, share how we dress and why we co-ordinate the colours in a certain way.” 

One of the teachers at Dr Nothembi Mkhwebane Foundation, Rose Mahlangu was busy showing new students how to make an African grass mat using juncus kraussii (incema).  

“I am one of the teachers. I have been doing this for years and I am happy to share the skill with others. I came here because I want to access a bigger market. I specialise in beadwork and making African grass mat. We are empowering people with this knowledge because we want them to be able to create their own jobs.” 

Born Peki Emelia in Carolina, Mpumalanga, near Swaziland border, Mkhwebane further took students and Sowetan team on a tour in her home which she has turned into a museum.

It is decorated with some of indigenous instruments, her collection of guitars, photographs of important people that she met in her career as well as a string of awards she has won over the years.

For the great work she has done she was honoured with an Order of Ikhamanga in silver for being a heroine of her own culture in 2010. 

bambalelep@sowetan.co.za