The Pan-African women-in-music network 54 African Mamas will stage its second I Can Beyond the Mic Summit and Legacy Concert in South Africa in June 2026, aligning the gathering with the 70th anniversary of the 1956 Women’s March and the 50th anniversary of the 1976 Soweto Uprising.
The event, themed “Music for Change,” follows a 2021 debut in Lusaka, Zambia. Twenty-one ambassadors from across the continent are set to participate.
Why South Africa
Although the inaugural summit was initially planned for South Africa, support from Zambia’s Shakarongo Foundation led to the first edition being held in Lusaka. For the second edition, organisers saw a symbolic opportunity in the June 2026 timing.
“When we realised the second edition would take place during June 2026, we recognised a unique opportunity,” said Pumzile Manikela, co-founder and international project manager of 54 African Mamas. “South Africa will be commemorating both 50 years since the Soweto Uprising and 70 years since the Women’s March. These are not only South African milestones; they are African milestones that continue to inspire struggles for justice across the continent.”
Legacy Concert and participants
The Legacy Concert, scheduled for 26 June 2026, will feature performances by the 21 ambassadors alongside South African artists. Confirmed participants include Nozzy Nguse, a former cast member of Sarafina!, and ToGaTa, the trio previously known as backing vocalists for the late Lucky Dube. Organisers have also reserved space for South African backing vocalists who have worked with artists such as Rebecca Malope, Brenda Fassie and Yvonne Chaka Chaka.
Selection prioritised social impact over celebrity status, Manikela said. Ambassadors include Zimbabwe’s Shumbakazi, an mbira player and instrument maker who advocates against child forced marriage, and eSwatini’s Thobile Makhoyane, who uses music for healing and plays indigenous instruments. The summit will also highlight behind-the-scenes roles, including promoter Nomsa Chonco, whose work creating opportunities for artists has often received little public attention.
Honouring women of the Soweto Uprising
A key part of the programme will recognise the contributions of women and girls during the 1976 Soweto Uprising. While public memory often centres on male student leaders, organisers note that women and girls served as marchers, organisers, caregivers and coordinators within the resistance movement.
Members of the public have been invited to nominate women whose roles in the uprising have gone largely unrecognised. Selected individuals will be honoured during the event and given a platform to share their stories.
Beyond the stage: leadership and policy
Alongside performances, the summit will host discussions on leadership, governance, entrepreneurship and cultural policy. Sessions on arts management and cultural policy aim to help grassroots women artists understand international frameworks, including UNESCO’s culture and sustainable development agenda.
“We have intentionally built a structure that includes legends, established practitioners, emerging artists, promoters and community activists,” Manikela said. “This is not a once-off initiative but a long-term pan-African movement.”
Country chapters of 54 African Mamas are being established across Africa to strengthen local leadership and support the movement’s long-term sustainability.
Ambassador spotlight: Florence Nyamazana
Among the artists attending is Florence Nyamazana, an award-winning Zimbabwean mbira musician, leader of the Ningadzenharira Culture Group and Vice President of the Chivavarira National Mbira Association. She will serve as Zimbabwe’s chapter ambassador and uses her music to advocate for girls’ rights and oppose child marriage.
“Growing up in Gokwe, I learned that the mbira speaks for the community in times of both grief and celebration,” Nyamazana said. “Being a cultural custodian means preserving our heritage, but our heritage has always included protecting the vulnerable.”
Working in a field traditionally dominated by men has presented challenges, but she draws inspiration from history.
“The women of the 1956 March and the youth of the 1976 Soweto Uprising teach me that courage is not the absence of fear, but the refusal to be silent in the face of inequality.”
Beyond performing, Nyamazana works as an adjudicator and administrator, roles she sees as essential to changing perceptions of women’s leadership in the cultural sector.
“For too long, the industry has tried to keep female traditional artists as mere decoration on stage while men run the boardrooms,” she said. “By stepping into leadership, administration and adjudication, I prove that women can be the architects of cultural policy and creative enterprise.”
