Songs That Helped End Apartheid
Thirty years on, it’s worth remembering the contribution of music’s opposition
Perhaps because the legal end of South Africa’s odious Apartheid was less noticeable than, say, Nelson Mandela’s release or election as president, the 30-year anniversary of the formal end slid by relatively unnoticed.
It was on June 17, 1991, that the law institutionalising racial segregation was repealed. South Africa is still a mess — but it is a mess of its own populist making, not that of a brutalising white elite.
I was reminded of the significant role played by musicians in opposing Apartheid by Stevie “Little Steven” Van Zandt during a remarkably enjoyable lecture at a literary festival in southern England. His talk was a tour de force.
Van Zandt has written a well-received autobiography in which he muses on the changes in music during his life, his work and dealings with Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, and others, and his acting in “The Sopranos” and “Lillyhammer”.
But Van Zandt is also a consummate political activist. As well as delivering a fantastic…
