7 minute read
A Nursing Dream Turned into Spiritual Healing
A Nursing Dream
TURNED INTO Spiritual Healing
Growing up in the dusty streets of Ga-Phasha, a village in the Sekhukhune District of Limpopo Province, all what the now award-winning gospel singer-songwriter Selinah Winnie Mashaba wished for was to become a professional nurse.
ittle did the young Selinah Mashaba know that when she’s all grown up she would be a soothing healer of some sorts, one who L needed no certificate but a gift of her angelic voice to treat and heal the sick through uplifting gospel music. A third child from a family of eight,
Dr Mashaba says being born in a rural area that lacked resources and access to information limited career choices for many. For her, she looked up to the local nurses who fascinated her with their uniform. “I loved the way the nurses dressed, it inspired me to want to look like them, but
God’s fate took me somewhere else where
I still became a nurse, but a spiritual one,” she says appreciatively. In 1990, at the age of nine, she discovered her natural talent for singing as the young Selinah would sing at school, church and local gatherings. Her interest in music grew even stronger, as time went by, surpassing even her childhood dream of becoming a nurse.
Dr Mashaba says at the nascent stage of her music career, lack of resources and career advice on how to formalise her gift hampered her progress.
Although her late mother, Malebo Mashaba, wanted her to focus on her education in order to be a nurse, she supported her dream to be a musician. As such, Dr Mashaba believes that she couldn’t have made it without her mother’s guidance and support.
“My mother saw passion in my singing and got worried that I would no longer focus on my studies,” says Dr Mashaba.
“However, she secretly looked for a producer to guide me. She tried a lot of them but only Solly Moholo was interested, coming all the way from Gauteng to my village just to listen to me sing, and eventually decided that I was talented enough to be a musician.”
After Solomon Molokoane, better known by his stage name Solly Moholo, listened to her, the Ke Mosione 9-9 singer was so impressed that he arranged for her to visit his home studio in Soshanguve, Gauteng, during school recess to record a demo.
This is how her music career began. Selinah became Winnie.
Her schedule became so busy that at the age of 18, she was forced to take a break from schooling after passing Grade 11 at Mashupje Senior Secondary School in Ga-Phasha to prepare for the release of her debut album the following year.
In June 2000, after extensive mentoring by Mr Molokoane, Dr Mashaba eventually released her debut album titled Lesedi la Khutšo - Exoda 20, produced by the former.
Dr Mashaba went on to make her first public performance a year later, in her home village of Ga-Phasha, sharing the stage with many popular musicians. This, she says, was in July 2001 during a promotional event hosted by a beverage company that attracted over a thousand people, “The entire street was closed [off] with a huge stage, and nearly all people from Burgersfort were present,” she recollects.
“What made my first public performance very special to me was that it was the first and last performance my
Winnie Mashaba is an established gospel artiste who also hosts Amahubo, a traditional gospel programme, on DStv’s channel Dumisa TV.
The title track and lead single Moporofeta Jeremiah, released April 2020, from Mashaba’s latest album has already won her the award for best composer at the 7th annual Independent National Gospel Music Awards (INGOMAs).
DON’T EVEN FEEL LIKE YOU ARE WORKING.”
mother ever saw me perform before she passed on in August of the same year. The way people received me thrilled my mother to an extent that she told everyone that ‘that’s my child’.”
She says the joy which she saw on her mother’s face still lingers poignantly in her mind even today.
“This is what keeps me going when I face industry challenges as I always think how my late mother proudly expressed her appreciation during my first public performance,” she continues.
With a singing career that spans 23 years, the now 40-year-old has thus far released nineteen (19) albums with her latest offering titled Moporofeta Jeremiah released in February 2021.
As one of the most respected traditional gospel singers in Africa, she has received numerous awards including, the Metro FM Awards (Best Gospel Album - 2008), SABC Crown Gospel Music Awards (Best Gospel Artist - 2013), Limpopo Music Awards (Best Traditional Gospel Album – 2017 and 2019, and Best Traditional Gospel Single - 2018), and the Independent National Gospel Music Awards (Humanitarian Award - 2016, Best Female Artist and Artist of the Year - 2018, and Best Songwriter - 2020).
In her illustrious career, the versatile singer has also collaborated with many
gospel artists and groups such as Spirit of Praise, Women in Praise and the late Sfiso Ncwane.
Inspired by the need to empower unknown talent, Dr Mashaba has mentored many potential artists in the country.
“I have given myself the responsibility to give budding artists an opportunity to shine,” she says.
This is attested by the fact that on her current album, she features talented budding singers Mapula Monyepao and Musa Mhlawuli on her second single Ga a fele Maatla.
As part of her community outreach programmes, she motivates and donates school shoes and sanitary towels to youth in South Africa and Botswana. And she also holds an annual Moral Regeneration Concert around the country, and the neighbouring Botswana.
However, the fifth instalment of the gig, originally scheduled for 2020, was put on hold indefinitely due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
These humanitarian efforts have not gone unnoticed.
In 2019, she was awarded the Honorary Doctorate by the Trinity International
Mashaba, in her trademark doek, has wrapped her head around Roads Agency Limpopo’s thankless task of delivering quality road infrastructure with a limited budget. Bible University (TIBU) for her community work and positive impact in other people’s lives. the Roads Agency Limpopo of improving road infrastructure in the province despite existing budgetary constraints.”
“I APPLAUD THE WORK DONE BY THE ROADS AGENCY LIMPOPO OF IMPROVING ROAD
As a busy musician, when quizzed about how she balances work and family, she assuredly remarked that: “When you do something that you love, you don’t even feel like you are working. It feels like a normal day to day house chore. However, my family is very supportive of my career as they are able to adapt to my busy schedule.”
Dr Mashaba highlights that a quality road network make things easier for her busy schedule as she can travel on time and with ease around the province.
“As such, I applaud the work done by
“As I’m now based in Gauteng, I used to struggle to go to my home village of Ga-Phasha due to gravel roads that were riddled with stones. But now, thanks to RAL that the road to my village was tarred in 2018, I now do not hesitate to go home anymore.”
She further appeals to business people to assist and partner with government on its quest to improve the state of roads in the province.
When Mmileng asked her about her latest album, she sighed remarking that: “My latest album Moporofeta Jeremiah is the most special album because after 23 years in the music industry, this is my first album released under my own record label.
“I take this album as my own baby. The fact that the album has eight different languages [from] across Africa is what makes it even more special.”
After a drawn out hiatus from schooling, in 2012, Dr Mashaba returned to successfully sit for her National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations. “It was essential that I go back to school because as a motivational speaker you cannot tell someone to do something you failed to do. It becomes very difficult for a person to take you seriously. “We need education to enhance talent, so everyone should take education seriously,” she concludes. m
