Afropunk Fest ushers in new decade at place of pain and hope

We’re just about to enter a new year, and decade, and the atmosphere is filled with nuances of African royalty. Festivalgoers bring with them flamboyance and colourful displays of urban fashion as they gather for Afropunk Festival on the sacred Constitution Hill, which bears testament to South Africa’s turbulent past. I’m standing between the great stone walls where Nelson Mandela, Albertina Sisulu, Joe Slovo, Mahatma Gandhi and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela served time. The history of every South African lives here, beneath my feet... 

Afropunk Festival has made a resounding impact since it was founded in the US in 2005 by capturing the essence of being an individual and the right to self-expression. These ideals make Constitutional Hill, which is also home to the Constitutional Court that endorses the rights of citizens, the perfect location for a culture-defining event celebrating eccentricity through music, fashion and the punk ideal of liberation.

Ironically, this now ‘safe place’ is also situated just a stone’s throw away from the suburb of Hillbrow known for high crime rates and the home of many African migrants – many of them exploited by human traffickers and living in deplorable conditions in ‘hijacked’ buildings – and in the vicinity of where many of the 2019 xenophobic attacks took place. Burna Boy had a lot to say about these attacks and his appearances in South Africa were eventually cancelled.

Some 20 000 people are on the hill to have a good time. It's just a New Year’s Eve party for most. Alas, the die is cast. Drinks are flowing, the music is good and the outfits leave very little to the imagination. Hedonism seems to be more prominent here than reflection; although Afropunk is about individual freedoms like expression and sexuality, and a projection of the African ideal into the future, the event's localised vision could be more specific about the real dilemmas facing South Africans, and act as an educational platform for the younger members of our society to think about the precise social realities at play on the hill, its surrounds and in the minds of ordinary people.

Day 1 and the music marathon sets off with a showcase by top South African musicians: among the performers is vocal powerhouse Zoë Modiga with a set that matches her distinct but glamorous outfit; Kwani Experience come to the party with a twist of progressive township flavour; the emphatic Sjava was lambasted for being an alleged philanderer in the build-up to the event, with attendees vowing to boo him off stage, but the eclectic rapper and singer almost immediately takes control of the crowd, which sings along to his tunes throughout his performance.

Miguel owns the night with his contagious rockstar energy. Judging by the crowd’s reaction, his angelic voice captures souls, with many sharing their experience on social media after the event. “Not a single drop of rain at #AfropunkJoBurg but Miguel made us all super wet,” a tweep says.

It would be a difficult task to judge the best performance; all artists brought fire to the stage, each with a unique show tastefully meshed together to produce a fresh and diverse music experience.

It’s Day 2 and the merrymakers are vibrating with the same energy. Spirits are high as they wait to be ushered into the New Year. The ever-so-colourful ‘John Cena’ hitmaker Sho Madjozi is the perfect act to warm up a South African crowd. But kudus must go out to the Jamaican-born Masego who delivers a spectacular performance. The crowd is in awe as the soul-funk musician composes an entire song from scratch. After finally snapping out of Masego’s improvisation, Afropunk finds itself in the 11th hour and counting down the minutes and seconds to midnight.

The atmosphere is electrifying and shouts of “10, nine, eight” begin. The loud whistles are deafening as the throng transitions into the New Year and decade. Shortly after scenes of jubilation, there's a momentary pause onstage and a fierce medley of horns and trumpets summon a dramatic entrance by Solange. She follows up with a sincere performance amid diehard fans losing their minds. She may have upset some fans by not showing up in 2018, but after an outstanding full-band performance South Africans have forgiven her.

Solange performs songs from her latest When I Get Home album, which is a departure from the traditional compositional structures in her previous works. This made it feel like the illustrious singer was switching from her old self to a new rule-breaking musician, with her backup dancers enabling her to segue between the two personas. Up and down the stairs sporting all-white outfits, then down and up the stairs in all-black.

Afropunk is here to stay, but this historic place of pain and sorrow, which now serves as a reimagined space of celebration, will continue to evoke mixed emotions for many decades to come.