In his biography He Who Survives (2002) he described the Wembley Stadium gig as the most wonderful day of his life.
That day, Mandela took the microphone and said to over 100,000 people – “I’ve known this man for 40 years. He was one of The Manhattan Brothers who were the greatest singers and entertainers in South Africa. The Brothers were like my sons.”
Joe Mogotsi formed the group when he was a teenager with three friends from school.
Ripped off By musical agents, the group toured mine locations in the gold rich Transvaal and captivated black workers with their songs – gospels and spirituals, jazz and swing mixed with rich African choral works and Zulu harmonies as well as songs by Mogotsi about life above and below the earth in apartheid ruled South Africa.
In 1955, the brothers sang in front of African National Congress (ANC) leaders at Kliptown where they’d gathered to sign the Freedom Charter.
Two years earlier, the group accompanied Miriam Makeba and worked with her on Todd Matshikiza’s musical King Kong. After the show moved to London in 1961 (the Princes Theatre, West End) Joe and the rest of the group decided to stay in Britain and opt for British citizenship.
Mogotsi had small parts in several musical shows but after the group split in 1970 he worked as a security guard, enjoying a moment of musical fame again as a member of a choir in Richard Attenborough’s 1987 film, Cry Freedom.
After Mandela came to power in 1994, he returned home to a vastly changed South Africa. He often returned to the mining compounds whose residents, after the Second World War, put him and his fellow artists onto the musical map.
Known to millions as “Kolie” he was a musical legend who will never be forgotten in the ill-fated land of his birth.
Post published in: Entertainment
I lived with Uncle Joe in Wembley for a few years. He was a father figure to me and my brothers. Was always a pleasure to listen to his rehearsals. May your soul find rest in eternal peace.