Category: Zimbabwe, Human Rights, Music, Refugees and Displacement
When Zimbabweans were being attacked and killed in political violence, a little-known South African musician was inspired to act by the stories she heard from refugees living illegally in South Africa.
Johanna Booysen of the Black Rose African Jazz Orchestra was particularly angered when she heard about a Zimbabwean who died outside an office of South Africa’s home affairs ministry, which handles refugees.
She couldn't understand how this was “allowed” to happen. “Politicians and everybody were folding their hands and allowing everything to deteriorate,” she said.
So she wrote a protest song. Over just a few days, she composed a reggae tune and wrote the lyrics of “Slow Boat to China.” The idea stemmed from the appearance of reggae legend Bob Marley at Zimbabwe’s independence celebrations in 1980.
