the zulu arrived in south africa on january 22, 1879.
when did the zulu arrive in south africa?
january 22, 1879
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why the tune was associated with "a zulu drinking song", as it was in a 1954 down beat article, is unclear. the zulu is an ethnic grouping found in south africa; composer august musarurwa was a shona from southern rhodesia (now zimbabwe). the term skokiaan does occur in both zulu and shona and in the zulu-based lingua franca, chilolo. these are part of the bantu language grouping and so share similar roots. an early identification of skokiaan as a zulu word which circulated in johannesburg's slums is found in a scholarly article by ellen hellman, dated 1934. musarurwa himself did not call his tune "a zulu drinking song". the scanty fragments of his life history do not reveal that he spent time in south africa, either. in south africa there is no popular association of "skokiaan" with a zulu song. however southern rhodesian migrant labourers moved back and forth between their home country and the mines of south africa, located mostly around johannesburg, making it unlikely, but not impossible, that musarurwa's tune got influenced by a putative zulu song. such journeys, often by train, led to the emergence of the song shosholoza. while shosholoza has become very popular among south africans, who often sing it to encourage their sports teams, its origins, like that of "skokiaan", are southern rhodesian.
skokiaan