By Robin Adams
The 70th birthday celebrations for one of South Africa’s most legendary musical talent’s, Sipho Hotstix Mabuse, has officially begun.
The big day isn’t until November 2, but friends and industry colleagues took advantage of his brief visit to Cape Town on Wednesday night to throw him a surprise cocktail party in Bakoven.
Politicians, music minds, journalists, friends and family – a small group of guests were lucky enough to crack an invite to this exclusive gathering.
Mabuse’s daughter Naledi and husband Mandla Sibeko jetted in from Johannesburg to surprise her dad.
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“I am so humbled,” Hotstix Mabuse told Weekend Argus. “I didn’t expect this. When you’re surrounded by such wonderful people, it just makes you feel very special. And tonight is just wow! I didn’t know I mean so much to my fellow South Africans. And I am grateful for that.”
It was a night where political rivalries were put aside. GOOD’s mayoral candidate Brett Herron arrived without his boxing gloves, while Western Cape Premier Alan Winde of the DA, exchanged pleasantries with guests. The campaigning ahead of November 1’s local government elections took a backseat.
And it was all for Mabuse, one of the most recognisable names in South African entertainment. His association with his current record label Gallo, stretches back 50 years.
Martin Myers, the event organiser, said: “I think it was an incredible evening of warmth, generosity and celebration. It was the coming together and energy of people. And the love that South Africans have for Sipho, and particularly in Cape Town. It is wonderful now to celebrate icons who are alive.”
The almost-70 year old Mabuse was presented with a one-of-a-kind plaque from a South African music monitoring company which had meticulously tracked the impacts and number of radio plays Mabuse’s music got over a six-year period. That number is an eye watering 300 million plays, and it is that number that is splashed all across this incredible plaque.
And if that birthday gift wasn’t special enough, Mabuse was also handed a larger than life portrait of himself. This was the second version by Dennis Woest. The first was stolen from an art gallery in Durban in 2016.
And what would any celebration be without Mabuse’s most famous tune, “Burn out”? It truly is a song that has stood the test of time. Even he still gets “excited” when the DJ spins this early 1980s classic. “It’s still humbling that people after these years still relate to the song the same way. When I was filming a commercial the other day, and how the little kids were responding to the song, that for me does it all.”
Fans will be delighted to know that Mabuse is releasing new material soon. He’s tight lipped on the details. “There’s new music coming out. Just wait for it!”
Sipho "Hotstix" Mabuse 