Thandiswa Nyameka Mazwai (born 31 March 1976) is a South African musician, and is also the lead vocalist and songwriter of Bongo Maffin. She is also known as King Tha. Her debut album Zabalaza (2004), which attained double platinum status and her album also got nominated for Planet Awards on BBC Radio 3. Same year In 2004, she won Best Female Artist at Metro FM Awards. Her second album, titled "Ibokwe" was produced in 2009, was certified gold status within a few weeks after its release. Early life Thandiswa Mazwai was born in Eastern Cape in 1976 – the year of the Soweto Uprising – and grew up almost entirely in Soweto, Johannesburg, amidst the heavy apartheid township violence of the 1980s. Both her parents, Belede and Thami Mazwai, were journalists and anti-apartheid political activists, and she recollects that her home was filled with books, articles and thick with political discussions. It was this environment that nurtured her perspective as an artist. She went on to attend Wits University, where she studied English Literature and International Relations. Her work has always been inspired by her mother (who died when Thandiswa was 15 years old) and the writings of people such as Steve Biko and Frantz Fanon, Chinua Achebe and Kwame Nkrumah. Family She is a sister to Nomsa Mazwai, with whom they have a healthy sibling rivalry. She also goes by the name Thandiswa Mazwai Belede, in honour of her mother Belede, who died at the age of 34 in 1992. She is also a sister to the poet Ntsiki Mazwai, who is an author, social activist, producer, and blogger. Career Jack-Knife Thandiswa was a member of Jack-Knife, with Kimon Webster and Themba Smuts. The trio was regarded as pioneers of the kwaito movement, and their songs like "Fester" and "Chommie" were club hits. Early years and Bongo Maffin Thandiswa's first attempt to get noticed occurred at the Shell Road to Fame talent show but Thandiswa did not even make it to the semi-finals round. She did, however, catch the eye of musician and producer Don Laka, who arranged to include her in a project he was working on. She also began her career in 1998 with Bongo Maffin, one of the pioneering bands of Kwaito. She became widely recognised as the voice of South Africa's conscious youth, their compositions consistently combining dance floor favourites with thought-provoking lyrics. They were