Unisa online - South African Jazz legend receives honorary doctorate

All smiles before the ceremony. Font row: Judge Bernard Ngoepe (Unisa Chancellor), Thabo Mbeki (Former South African President), Jonas Gwangwa. Back Row: Prof Narend Baijnath (Unisa Pro-Vice-Chancellor), Prof Mandla Makhanya (Unisa Principal and Vice-Chancellor) and Prof Louis Molamu (Unisa Registrar)

Prodigious Jazz musician, Jonas Gwangwa was conferred the degree of Doctor of Literature and Philosophy (Honoris Causa) by Unisa on 3 May 2012.

Gwangwa is widely regarded as a prolific composer and he describes his own music as ‘Jazz with a South African accent.’ He was exposed to music at an early age, under the guidance of renowned human rights activist, Father Trevor Huddlestone. His exposure to a multi-cultural South Africa during the Apartheid era and his ability to speak all eleven official languages has fueled his love for Jazz.

One of South Africa’s foremost Jazz musicians is honored by Unisa. Prof Louis Molamu and Jonas Gwangwa

His band provided the music at the famous Kliptown Conference in 1955 when the Freedom Charter was adopted by the African National Conference. The political situation at that time forced Gwangwa into exile. He spent 15 years in the United States of America, but still managed to maintain a South African identity in both his character and music. He travelled the world with Amandla on a mission to raise awareness about the oppression in his home country and to garner funds for Umkhonto we Sizwe operatives as well as others in exile.

Gwangwa has played alongside the likes of Charlie Mingus, Ahmad Jamal, Hugh Masekela and Abdullah Ibrahim, to name a few. He collaborated with composer, George Fenton on the music score for Cry Freedom and while at the Manhattan School of Music, arranged the Grammy winning, “An evening with Belafonte and Masekela.” He has received numerous awards including the Order of Ikamanga for his contribution to South African music.

Since his return to the country in 1990, Gwangwa’s music has been made freely available to the masses, having been previously banned. South Africans across the board acknowledge his cultural, musical and political contributions towards a free and democratic South Africa. “There is nothing like being recognised at home. I will remember this award from Unisa, for the rest of my life,” he said.