I wanted to be a DJ – Chief Mandela

By Brenda Phiri

Chief Zwelivelile Mandlesizwe Dalibhunga Mandela, the late iconic leader Nelson Mandela’s eldest grandson, dreamt of becoming a deejay while he was still a youth.

Speaking at the official launch of GotchaNyama Restaurant in Harare, Chief Mandela said his grandfather had bigger plans for him and he had to settle for community service roles.

“Growing up in the dusty streets of Soweto, all that was around me was the township lifestyle, especially the music.

“I grew fond of urban lifestyle and a passion for music. I remember coming back from Swaziland after spending seven years in exile. My grandfather sat with me and said ‘So what would you want to be?’ I turned around and said ‘I want to be a deejay,'” he said.

This was amid bursts of laughter from the audience during the launch and he explained that his response did not go down well with the late former South African leader.

“He said ‘Excuse me, what is that?’ I said ‘It is a disk jockey’. And immediately he said ‘Nonsense! That’s nonsensical! Get out of here! Your father ought to talk some sense into your head’. That was the commitment my grandfather had. He wanted us to contribute to the community instead, so he groomed us at an early age,” he said.

Chief Mandela then explained that he ventured into business afterwards.

He said as he was making inroads in the sector, he had to fulfil another of his grandfather’s wishes, which was to go back to the countryside.

This onus of his responsibility meant he had to help in upholding the family tradition and culture and as fate would have it, he took up the family’s chieftaincy in 2007. He said with the help of the late Mandela, he began to understand their family’s purpose and life time commitment, which was to be of service to the people.

“I am very much community orientated these days,” he said. The Herald