Restoring a Forgotten Voice:Thabo Mbeki Foundation and Classics on Turf Present the Tiyo Soga Commemorative Concert This Heritage Month
For over 150 years, millions of South Africans have sung the hymn Lizalis’ idinga lakho, “Fulfill Thy promise, Lord”, without knowing the name of the man who wrote it.
This Heritage Month, the Thabo Mbeki Foundation and Classics on Turf continue to restore Reverend Tiyo Soga (1829–1871) to public memory with a commemorative concert on Saturday, 19 September 2026, at Rhema Bible Church North in Randburg.
The concert deliberately falls within Heritage Month and its return could not be timelier. September is the month South Africans set aside to honour the people, practices and stories that have shaped who we are, and few stories are as overdue for the spotlight as that of Reverend Tiyo Soga.
Soga was one of South Africa’s first published Black intellectuals, the first Xhosa translator of Pilgrim’s Progress, a pioneering journalist who founded Indaba in 1862 to preserve indigenous knowledge, and an early architect of Pan-African thought. Yet his name remains unknown to many who carry his words in their mouths.
Soga utilised indigenous language, composition, and literature as deliberate instruments of preservation and resistance during an era of colonial encroachment. The concert bridges classical orchestral traditions with choral works to highlight indigenous intellectual history during a month dedicated to national memory.
The production features celebrated composer and vocalist Mandisi Dyantyi, alongside the Renaissance Singers and the Chamber Orchestra of Johannesburg, under the baton of conductor Kutlwano Masote.
A Lineage of Cultural Stewardship: From Soga to the Podium
The production carries a four-generation narrative of Black classical music in South Africa. That act of restoration runs in a direct line to the podium. Kutlwano Masote is the son of Michael Masote, founder of the Soweto Youth Orchestra in 1965, a cultural movement which spawned the Soweto Symphony Orchestra and the Soweto String Quartet. For the maestro, it is a culmination of “all of our musical ancestories, both biological and cultural”. Masote further asserts that standing on this podium is an extension of that lineage. “We are responding to Tiyo Soga’s challenge to us all, using orchestral music and choral tradition to honour our shared heritage as preserve for future generations.”
“We Are Building a Different Kind of a Heritage Museum”
“Heritage preservation is not an occasional gesture, it demands active cultural stewardship,” said Vincent ZwelibanziMntambo, founder and patron of Classics on Turf.
“We are building a different kind of museum. Not a building where history gathers dust, but a living archive of sound, memory, and legacy. Partnering with the Thabo Mbeki Foundation during Heritage Month gives this moment the historical weight it warrants.” Former state president and patron of the Thabo Mbeki Foundation echoes Mntambo’s call to action. “Music was never a decoration for our people. It was, and it remains, how we remember and instruct ourselves”.
The collaboration between the two organisations already delivered the first sold-out concert edition of this programme at Wits Great Hall in June. Plans are already in motion to repeat the concert in the Eastern Cape, the home province of Soga, early in 2027.
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