Red hot local pantsula troupe goes global

From dancing for a plate of food to touring Europe...a local pantsula group says staying true to each other and resolving issues without letting disputes escalate is what has brought them this far.

Group leader Solly Phahlamohlaka, 36, said when they were starting out as street performers, they liked the idea of girls screaming their names but they didn’t let it go to their heads. 

“A lot of groups got destroyed because of those things. Our disputes were either because a dance move was not moving nicely but it was never about money or women.

"We were a family after all,” said Phahlamohlaka. 

Formed in 2003 when they were still teenagers, the Tembisa Red Devils Pantsula is made up of Phahlamohlaka, Frans Makobela, 34, Vusimuzi Dlamini, 34, and Bongumusa Kunene, 35. They recently celebrated their 21st anniversary in October as a dance group and are promising more to come. 

He said the group existed during the height of Yizo Yizo, a popular SABC TV show and everyone seemed to want to be like the characters. However, they wanted something different.

“People were either turning to drugs or the thug life and we didn’t want that. We just enjoyed dancing everywhere and during the old days dancing didn’t make money like it does now.  

“So when you would dance it’s either you got a plate of food or R50 and obviously we didn’t get a lot of approval from our parents. They didn’t like it, they thought it was a hobby. They would tell us to leave it and be like other children who went to university and have careers, not to waste time,” said Phahlamohlaka. 

The four members had to do everything themselves and Phahlamohlaka said they never asked for a loan or had to beg. 

“If we needed a uniform, we would make it ourselves or perform so much to get enough to make it. If we needed transport to somewhere we found a way.” 

He said the name “Red Devils” came from an argument over soccer.

“Three members supported Manchester United and one supported Barcelona, and the nickname for Man U is Red Devils.

"Manchester was flourishing at that time so we decided to borrow the name and just add Tembisa.”

Phahlamohlaka said things started changing in 2010 when a taxi association chairperson, Johannes Mkhonza, decided to sponsor them.

“We will forever be grateful to ‘Ntate’ Johannes, he did a lot for us.

"There was nothing but dancing for us; pantsula was our thing and he saw that and had faith in us. 

“That led us down the years to where in 2022 we performed with Trompies at the Tembisa Kwaito Festival and kwaito has done a lot for us, for South Africa in general.

"To be able to share a stage with Trompies was a huge honour, I mean even the majority of our outfits are inspired by them.”

The Red Devils have been touring since 2013 – from Australia to finding themselves entering France’s Got Talent show in 2019 and becoming finalists.

They have performed with Oskido, danced in music videos of Limpopo singer Makhadzi and have seen themselves win multiple awards like the American Dance Awards held in the US as well as Big M Productions Awards and Zikomo Awards locally.

However, Phahlamohlaka said there are many more of where that came from. 

“We are going to tour in Turkey next year. Britain's Got Talent has asked us to come to perform on the show next year and at some point we are going to New York.

"We just got delayed by applications of visas,” he said. 

Phahlamohlaka said right now all that matters is leaving behind a legacy, a constantly growing one. 

“We have a junior group of eight and we have integrated ourselves into the community. We do everything we can for the children because life is constantly changing every day and it’s all about taking risks. 

“We lost a member to a brutal murder and that still stays with us but we continue to prevent that from happening as we continue to dance,” he said. 

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