"When you are on stage, it is like you are in a different world."

"Hope is very important. But hope is also difficult, unlike cynicism," said legendary South African artist Vusi Mahlasela in an interview with GroundUp before a performance at the Baxter theatre on Thursday.

"People have lost hope. If people have lost hope, totally, then the country is finished."

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His performance blended songs and stories from his life, of growing up in Mamelodi township and becoming an anti-apartheid activist. He was accompanied by Dizu Plaatjies on percussion and Jerry Tsholofelo Papo on guitar. They were also joined by singer Crescens Katerus. Mahlasela is well-known for combining his activism and music.

Mahlasela is a self-taught musician. "I started playing with guitars that I built myself," he told GroundUp. He and his friends used to build guitars and drums from jam tins, atchar containers, fishing nets, and mattress springs. "We were very creative when we were young."

He fell in love with music from performances at his grandmother's shebeen. "It so happened that through music, I was introduced to politics as well, because some of the guys coming to the shebeen would hold political meetings there," he said.

Mahlasela explained how when he was invited to his first political meeting, they sang "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" which at the time was regarded as the unofficial national anthem and banned by the apartheid regime.

"When you are on stage, it is like you are in a different world," he said. He aims for his music to give people hope. "You are there for a purpose ... You are a troubadour. It is your cause, it is your line, it is your duty."

The performance was sponsored by the Cameron Schrier Foundation, and all proceeds from ticket sales are to go to the University of Cape Town's "Unlocking Futures Bursary Fund" in support of UCT students.

Disclosure: GroundUp is funded by the Cameron Schrier Foundation.