Sizwe Sibiya
Loved and Lost: Tokollo “Magesh” Tshabalala (1976 – 2022)
One of the greatest lyricists and songwriters of the past three decades has fallen.
Born a few months after the Soweto student uprising, on 14 October 1976, Tokollo “Magesh” Tshabalala was destined to be a star.
The son of the great coach and founding member of Kaizer Chiefs, Stanley “Screamer” Tshabalala, Magesh attended St Stithians College in Johannesburg where he met Zwai Bala and Kabelo Mabelane in 1992. They became lifelong best friends.
Little did they know that in four years’ time they would become one of the most influential musical trios the country has ever produced, under the famous TKZee group.
But before TKZee, which comes from their first names Tokollo, Kabelo and Zwai, Magesh had to carve his own way into the music industry with another kwaito group from Soweto, which was called Mashamplani.
Mashamplani consisted of kwaito artists S’bu, Pro, Magesh and Mdu. Mdu was the so-called “Beyonce” of the group, the dominant one who hogs the limelight. When the group disbanded because of payment disputes during the early days of TKZee, Mdu continued performing with only the dancers under the Mashamplani name.
The dissolution of Mashamplani became a blessing in disguise for Magesh, who formed TKZee with his high school friends. Together they released their first EP titled Take it Eazy in 1996.
Even though their debut was not very successful commercially, the trio went on to release their second project, Phalafala, in 1997. Shibobo followed in 1998. But it was not until they released the Halloween album, still in 1998, that their sting was felt by the whole of Mzansi.
Halloween, which consisted of all time kwaito hit songs like “Sikelela”, “Bona Senzani” and “We Love This Place”, conquered on the fifth South African Music Awards (SAMA) in 1999, taking home the awards for Best Kwaito Album, Best Duo/Group, Best Single and Best Kwaito Single.
After releasing Guz 2001 (TKZee family) in 1999 and Trinity in 2001, like other members of the group Magesh branched out on his own to release his second solo album titled Ndabezitha, after having released the undocumented Gusheshe album in 1996.
While TKZee continued working together on two more albums as they were still close friends, the last one being Coming Home in 2009, Magesh soared as a solo artist, releasing six albums in total. The last one was the Heist, which was released in 2012, according to his official Facebook page.
Towards his last days of performing on the big stages, Magesh released his last documented commercial single titled “Hitman” on 18 July 2014 under HeiST Entertainment and Dream Team SA.
In 2019, at the 25th SAMA awards, the trio was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award. “Magesh is the business. He is the guy that put me on, that believed in me,” Kabelo had told MacG’s Podcast and Chill during an exclusive interview on 9 September 2021.
After being silent for more than five years musically, the kwaito icon Magesh passed away at the age of 45 at his home in Johannesburg on Monday, 15 August.
“It is with great sadness that the family wishes to confirm the passing of Tokollo ‘Magesh’ Tshabalala. Magesh, as he was affectionately known, passed away this morning, as a result of an epileptic seizure,” reads a statement released by his family on Monday.
While condolences continue to pour in from all corners of Mzansi, his family has requested privacy.
“All details pertaining to his memorial and funeral service will be shared in due course,” concluded the statement, which was released on his Facebook account.
Image source:Facebook
