Maseru, Lesotho – On a sunny afternoon, a white minibus taxi carrying 22 passengers pulled out of a crowded bus station in Johannesburg and headed to neighbouring Lesotho, the landlocked kingdom inside South Africa’s borders.
The second the minibus acquired on the freeway, the driving force switched on the radio and the audio system crackled to life with the sound of a solo accordion – the intro to a widely known Famo tune.
“I might hearken to this music all day,” mentioned one passenger, a younger man in blue workman overalls, however worn stylishly to make a trend assertion as an alternative of for industrial use. Round him, many different passengers, most Lesotho nationals, bobbed their heads and sang alongside because the drums and vocals on the monitor kicked in.
Famo, a style of music that blends conventional Southern African songs and Western devices, first emerged a century in the past amongst migrant mining communities in South Africa. The music, characterised by heavy use of the accordion fused with guitar choosing from the maskandi type, a subgenre of Zulu folks music, is significantly cherished by many Basotho.
However in recent times, Famo has change into infamous past dance halls and live performance venues. Fierce rivalry between some followers and singers has prompted lethal gang warfare in Lesotho. Lately, the violence has exacerbated a lot that the federal government banned some Famo teams and branded them “terrorist” organisations.
Now many die-hard followers are unable to observe their favorite artists carry out dwell. “I really like Famo music,” says Thabelo, a taxi driver in Maseru who we aren’t naming as many individuals are actually nervous to talk publicly concerning the matter. “You realize they’ve banned the reveals now, so we are able to solely play it in our automobiles or within the privateness of our properties.”
The ban, which went into impact in Could, named particular Famo teams which the federal government known as “illegal by purpose of being concerned in, or selling or encouraging subversive actions”. The ban extends to any paraphernalia related to banned teams, resembling trendy conventional blankets with distinct gang colors.
A number of the teams banned embrace the favored Terene ea Chakela and Terene ea Mokata-Lirope, amongst others.
Nonetheless, teams or musicians not affected by the ban are free to carry out, like Famo artist Mantsali Julia Hantsi, popularly generally known as Thope Tse Khang.
Famo music wasn’t at all times related to violence and gangs, Hantsi informed Al Jazeera, including that traditionally, Famo music was a approach for individuals to precise themselves, have a good time, and inform tales.
“[Famo music] was a type of leisure that additionally served to protect the historical past and tradition of the Basotho individuals,” she mentioned. “Sadly, in more moderen instances, sure factions have used the music to incite violence or promote rivalry amongst themselves.”
‘Not about violence’
In July this yr, two outstanding voices on the forefront of the Famo scene have been caught up within the worsening violence when unidentified gunmen opened fireplace on their van in Maseru and shot them.
Khopolo Khuluoe, popularly generally known as Lisuoa, was an award-winning singer of Famo, whereas Pulane Macheli was a celebrated radio persona. Collectively, they have been on a quest to cease violence associated to Famo music.
As a substitute, they grew to become victims of the very factor they have been attempting so onerous to cease – with Khuluoe killed immediately on the scene of the taking pictures and Macheli dying in hospital the next day.
In Lesotho, murders associated to Famo music appear to have risen. This yr alone, the media has reported a number of circumstances of Famo-related murders, together with the members of the family of an alleged Famo gangster.
Lots of the killings are linked to a longstanding feud between two main Famo gangs: the Terene ea Mokata Lirope group, and the Liala Mabatha gang. The 2 have been at one another’s throats for months.
In April, two members of the Terene group have been shot at a funeral of their chief’s rural dwelling in Leribe. Six hours later, a suspected revenge killing came about: 5 members of the family of a rival Famo gang member have been killed.
Nobody has been charged for the murders however it’s believed the killings are linked to the Terene and Liala Mabatha feud.
Hantsi feels disheartened concerning the new associations between Famo and violence. “This shift has forged a shadow on the style,” she mentioned, “however at its core, Famo just isn’t about violence; it’s about storytelling and expression.”
Evolution of Famo
Famo music originated within the slum yards of Johannesburg within the Twenties, writes Lehlohonolo Phafoli within the educational article The Evolution of Sotho Accordion Music in Lesotho. Again then, it was principally carried out for drinkers of a bootleg brew known as “skokiaan” in unlawful consuming spots for Black individuals, known as “shebeens”.
Many visiting the shebeens, in accordance with Phafoli, have been Basotho nationals who joined throngs migrating to South Africa searching for work, which additionally included native Black South Africans dispossessed from their land underneath apartheid.
From South Africa’s townships, Famo made its method to Lesotho. Phafoli notes: “Famo music spilled over into Lesotho and have become frequent in shebeens. Its arrival in Lesotho could be attributed to 2 main teams: first, migrant labourers, particularly males, and second, Basotho girls who got here from the places and mine compounds in Johannesburg”.
Through the years, South Africa and Lesotho have continued to share related, and sometimes linked, crime issues linked to Famo music and unlawful mining.
Famo remains to be fashionable among the many “zama zamas”, the unlawful miners who burrow for gold within the remnants of Johannesburg’s previous, disused mines and mine dumps immediately.
At a relaxation cease between Johannesburg and Maseru, one of many Basotho passengers, Keith Mahosi, factors stealthily to the trendy blue overall-clad passenger and Famo fan.
“You see that man over there, he’s a zama zama,” mentioned Mahosi, a monetary analyst working in Johannesburg whose actual identify we aren’t utilizing to guard his security.
“If any altercation have been to come up proper now,” Mahosi mentioned quietly, “he [the man in blue overalls] would be the first to drag out a gun.”
There’s a lot distrust and apprehension round these suspected of being zama zamas, amid proof linking them to crime and violence, together with murders. Many zama zamas are additionally considered related to Famo gangs.
Alongside Lesotho’s border with South Africa, it’s usually peaceable – populated with pleasant roadside distributors and makeshift zinc buildings that function bus terminals. However the peace can shift all of a sudden. On June 11, a number of gunmen opened fireplace on passengers as they stepped out of a minibus, killing two individuals. It’s believed the killings have been Famo associated.
One of many largest drivers of Famo violence is prohibited mining in South Africa, John Mokwetsi, a journalist from Lesotho, informed Al Jazeera in Maseru, utilizing a pseudonym to guard his security.
“These Famo gangs now run completely different unlawful mining turfs in South Africa. What occurs is usually they [rival Famo gang members] have battle within the mines. After they fail to find a gang member they want to hurt in South Africa, they journey to Lesotho and kill the gang member’s household,” he mentioned.
‘Like a rap beef’
In Lesotho immediately, the gangs shaped round Famo music function in several areas, in accordance with native media stories.
Mahosi, who’s a fan of American hip-hop music, likened the feuds of Famo gangs to the US hip-hop feud of the mid-Nineties that culminated within the deaths of Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace (popularly generally known as Biggie Smalls). The feud pitted artists from cities on the East Coast of the US towards these from the west.
Drawing parallels between the 2 music feuds, Mahosi mentioned: “Just like the rap ‘beef’ between East Coast and West Coast again within the day, right here [in Lesotho] now we have the north and south with Leribe district being the south and Mafeteng district being the north.
“A Famo musician from the north can not carry out within the south and vice versa. Nicely, they’ll however likelihood is they received’t make it again dwelling alive,” he added.
Initially, some Famo gangs shaped to help musical artists in instances of illness and demise. Two Famo gangs that have been on the centre of violence between 2009 and 2011, Seakhi and Terene, began as burial societies meant to help members once they misplaced family members.
“The violence began when Famo artists started insulting one another of their music,” mentioned journalist Mokwetsi.
Whereas it isn’t clear precisely when the violence began, the primary spate of Famo violence extensively reported on by the press was between 2009 and 2010 when 100 Famo artists have been mentioned to have been killed in Lesotho and South Africa.
Famo violence has quickly elevated killings in Lesotho; the nation of two.3 million now has the sixth-highest homicide fee on the planet.
Hantsi, the budding Famo musician, informed Al Jazeera the violence has tarnished the picture of the style. “It’s unlucky as a result of individuals now affiliate the style with negativity, though that’s not what it initially represented,” mentioned Hantsi.
“This has made it tougher for real Famo artists to proceed their craft with out being caught up within the politics and violence surrounding the style.”
‘Breeding floor’
For a lot of younger males who be part of Famo gangs, all of it begins at initiation faculty, journalist Mokwetsi informed Al Jazeera. Initiation faculty for boys in Lesotho, often known as Lebollo Labanna, is a ceremony of passage that includes male circumcision, amongst different issues.
“The initiation colleges are form of a breeding floor for these [Famo] gangs,” mentioned Lerato Ncube, one other journalist investigating Famo violence with Mokwetsi, who we’re additionally not naming to guard her identification. Referring to Lesotho’s initiation colleges, she mentioned: “That’s the place they [Famo gangs] recruit from.”
Famo gangs use cash to lure susceptible youths to hitch up, Ncube informed Al Jazeera. She mentioned they provide younger boys in rural areas, a lot of whom dwell in powerful financial circumstances, enormous quantities of cash with guarantees of extra to come back.
“After they recruit you into the gangs, they [Famo gangs] go to your loved ones, they sit your loved ones all the way down to say, we’re taking this particular person, we wish this particular person to work with us. However as a result of the surroundings is unstable, this particular person would possibly die. So right here is 500,000 [South African rand] or right here is 1 million [rand] as insurance coverage so that ought to this particular person die, you don’t come complaining to us, now we have already paid for his life,” she mentioned.
Because the authorities banned some Famo teams, not less than three males from an space known as Leribe in Lesotho have been sentenced to 10 years in jail for sporting regalia of banned Famo teams.
“Whereas I perceive the federal government’s concern for public security, I imagine that banning Famo music and reveals just isn’t the answer,” Hantsi informed Al Jazeera. She mentioned there ought to be a give attention to addressing the causes of the violence. “Famo music itself just isn’t the issue; it’s how sure people have used it to push dangerous agendas. Music is supposed to unite and heal, and we should always work towards restoring that optimistic position.”
Regardless of the violence, Hantsi continues to launch songs and is presently experimenting with a fusion of Famo and hip-hop. “Hip-hop has a world attain, and its capacity to talk on present social points and private tales enhances Famo’s conventional narrative type. By mixing the 2 genres, I’m capable of maintain the essence of Famo alive whereas making it related for immediately’s viewers.”
‘They’re gangsters’
Famo gangs have additionally unfold their tentacles into varied authorities companies, Mokwetsi informed Al Jazeera. He mentioned Famo gangs have individuals in Lesotho’s military and police, and a few members of the general public are actually afraid to report Famo actions to police as a result of they concern data will leak and there can be retribution.
Political events in Lesotho are linked to Famo gangs, Mokwetsi mentioned, one thing additionally reported by native media. It has additionally reported on allegations that the military and police are “in mattress” with Famo gangs – claims the military denies.
In Could, Lesotho’s appearing police commissioner on the time, Mahlape Morai, admitted that Famo gangs had compromised the police power. She identified, nevertheless, that the police weren’t the one entity coping with Famo infiltration. “It’s not solely cops who’ve joined Famo gangs. The complete nation is embroiled within the Famo gangs perpetrating legal actions and killing individuals. Famo is widely known in Lesotho, crime is widely known in Lesotho, and for me, it must be given consideration by everybody, not simply the police,” The Lesotho Occasions quoted her as saying.
On a busy Friday afternoon within the coronary heart of Maseru, Pioneer Mall – one of many largest procuring centres within the nation – was teeming with individuals. Close to the primary entrance, individuals crowded round a mega-sized chess board – many taking part in music. In surrounding outlets, pop and hip-hop streamed by means of audio system. However one factor conspicuous by its absence was Famo music – a starkly completely different image from the dominance of the style on minibuses plying the Johannesburg-Maseru route.
“Famo just isn’t everybody’s cup of tea,” mentioned Mahosi, who mentioned the style was extra fashionable in rural Lesotho than in city centres like Maseru. That’s partly due to style preferences but additionally due to the violence now related to Famo, he mentioned.
“I don’t dislike Famo music,” Mahosi mentioned. “Many individuals prefer it as a result of it’s our conventional music. However over time, it has change into about violence. Lots of the individuals who sing Famo music are zama zamas, they’re gangsters.
“It’s the individuals related to Famo music that make me need to disassociate myself with the style.”
