Soweto primary school teacher and musician Vusumuzi Cele is leading by example to his learners.
Cele, who is a creative arts and English teacher at Khandubuhle Primary School in Pimville, has released a single titled Uyindod'enjani, which condemns gender-based violence. The single is part of a full Afro-pop album that Cele is working on and it is scheduled to be released digitally before the end of the year.
The 52-year-old, who started singing in childhood in Mkhomazi, KZN's south coast, was pushed to act against GBV because of the high rate of killings of women and children in SA. Uyindond'enjani questions the mentality of men who fail to spread love to their families and resorting to abusive or violent treatment of their wives and children.
“Every time I hear of a child or woman having been killed, it scares me. As a composer, member of the community, a man and a teacher, I felt that it was important to speak out about the issue. Music speaks louder than all of us. The song just questions what kind of a man who abuses his own family,” says the soft-spoken teacher.
As an educator and motivational speaker, Cele uses his music to educate and denounce GBV which has become a scourge in SA. His Afro-pop and gospel music speaks about life challenges, his life experiences, spreading the message of love and also focuses about others life challenges.
Cele, who is popularly known as JV Cele, has been able to transfer the passion he has to his students when teaching drama, singing and dance (contemporary and traditional dance). His students have been participating in the Soweto Theatre School Drama Festival and have been doing well.
“You know what’s funny is that I’m not professionally trained in ballet [dance]. I realised that the kids were doing traditional dance and I added ballet. I downloaded clips from YouTube and we watched with the kids and began practising. We are all self-taught when it comes to [ballet].”
It is strange that Cele, talented as he is, struggled to break into the music industry for more than 25 years. His career began as a gospel singer but he was forced to switch to Afro-pop because things were just not happening for him in the gospel genre.
“I realised that people survived with church performances. But if you do not have connections you will never succeed. There is a lot of red tape in churches. But if your profile is not established, churches will not book you for performances. I might have years of experience when it comes to music but they will still regard me as an upcoming artists because I am not famous.”
Like many gospel singers, his journey began singing in church and school choirs. He was among the first members of Gospel Preachers, the first professional gospel choir in Harding, also on the south coast.
Cele went to the former University of Transkei to study teaching. He continued with his passion for singing at university events. After completing his degree, he landed a teaching job at KwaShaka High School in Umlazi, Durban.
He heightened his activity in music, forming choirs like Tears of Joy and even releasing his own debut album in 1996. Cele also developed a passion for motivational speaking and worked as an MC at events.
“While teaching in Durban, I used to travel to Joburg during school holidays to record my music. My first album was a mixture of soul and gospel. I recorded another in 2011, which was a praise and worship album. Struggling to get recording deals forced me to start my own recording company Zenzele Entertainment. I released four albums through it and I sold copies myself.”
Cele also became instrumental in the establishment of a community radio station called Sunny South Radio where he was a radio presenter for five years. In 2008, the multi-talented teacher relocated to Johannesburg for greener pastures.
“I thought I was coming to Johannesburg to sing. But I was naïve about the whole thing. I had not intended to be a teacher again. I worked with different companies assisting choirs and emerging artists. But it was still not enough because I had kids and a wife. After five years in Johannesburg, I was forced to return to teaching again.”
Lately, Cele has been trying to explore filmmaking and acting opportunities. He has acted in the international film Money Monster that featured acclaimed actor Julia Roberts. The film was shot in Krugersdorp, west of Johannesburg.
He has shot his own film titled Ithemba Alibulali.
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