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Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent
AT 83 years of age, one would want to scale down on professional activities and enjoy quality time with granchildren but for veteran jazz musician Dorothy Masuka, this would spell disaster.

Aunt Dot as Masuka is popularly known, has a career spanning more than 60 years. The music legend who was born in Bulawayo’s Old Pumula suburb and relocated to South Africa at the age of 16, has over the years toured the world and made a name for herself.

Some artistes her age have started to slow down on their performance and are making less public appearances because they no longer have the energy. But Aunt Dot who has three children, nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, is still exuding energy and she says the only place she feels alive is when she is on stage.

Last week, Aunt Dot was in Bulawayo to bury her 95-year-old sister. Saturday Leisure caught up with her at The Place, a scenic venue in the city and had a chat with her.

Somehow accepting her sister’s death, Aunt Dot said although she was sad, she was content because her sister lived her life to the fullest.

“My sister has died but, all I can think of are the good memories of times we spent together. Towards her last days, she was never a problem to anyone as she was not critically ill, she just died peacefully probably because of her old age,” Aunt Dot said.

Turning to her music career, Aunt Dot, a former Empandeni Secondary school pupil, said she eats, sleeps and breathes music as she is always looking for the next opportunity or platform to perform.

“I will not accept even a trillion dollars to stop singing because I will die, its my life. For some of us music is a calling. I initially didn’t want to sing but music chose me, that’s why I’m still singing up to this age.”

Aunt Dot said when she relocated with her parents to South Africa, she already had a passion for music hence she would run away from school on several occasions to pursue her calling.

She said soon after their arrival in South Africa, she was discovered during a talent competition at St Thomas boarding school in Johannesburg. This was to be the beginning of her music career as she was signed under Troubador record company. Through this deal, she started singing under Dolly Rathebe’s tutorship. It was also during this time when she met age mates, the late Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela among others who were to become her close music buddies.

For Aunt Dot, the lure of the stage is too strong to resist as she constantly sings melodies as the day progresses, perhaps practising what she will do on stage. As her thoughts wonder back to the interview, Aunt Dot says she is saddened by the fact that Zimbabweans are not doing enough to honour their artistes.

“Zimbabwe owes me a lot. Here at home, no one is bothered to do anything about anybody. When I die, this means people will forget about me as people don’t want to acknowledge what I’ve done and contributed to the music industry in my home country.

“They’re reluctant to invite me to festivals, especially here in Bulawayo. They’re afraid to pay me money. They want to pay me peanuts,” said Aunt Dot.

She challenged the Minister of Sport, Arts and Recreation, Raymond Kazembe to do more to honour musicians and artistes who have put the country on the world map.

“We had people like Safirio Madzikatire who were popular and he’s still popular because such people don’t die. The only way we can honour our artistes and musicians who have done the country proud is to set up monuments. For example, the Government can set up an academy for comedians where they are taught the craft and then name it after Madzikatire. Even a statue for him or a community hall named after them.”

During her career, Aunt Dot has shared the stage with locals, Oliver Mtukudzi, Cool Crooners and Paul Lunga, artistes she said she enjoyed watching perform as they are very talented.

Since most of her years in the music industry were spent in South Africa, she rubbed shoulders with artistes such as Joe Mafela, Ray Phiri and Bra Hugh who are all dead. It was Bra Hugh that Aunt Dot said she misses as he was like a younger brother to her.

“Last year was a very tragic one. We lost a number of artistes and beginning of this year we lost Bra Hugh. I miss him. I miss his character. He was a very close person to me as I worked with him when he was 13 at a show that was called African Jazz and Variety.

“This show was the biggest thing in South Africa as it introduced black musicians to white audiences,” said Aunt Dot.

“I was very lucky that Bra Hugh recorded songs I composed such as Khauleza and Notsokolo. This got me nicknamed as Nontsokolo in the end.”

Aunt Dot, however, said her journey in the music career has not been all rosy as parents in the past did not understand that the girl child could make money off music and hence her parents were initially not supportive of her career.

“To overcome this, I kept my career clean although I used to drink and smoke, but I left that over 60 years ago as I realised there was no future. That’s why I’m still in the industry up to today and going strong.

“Up-and-coming artistes must not indulge in things that’ll affect their career and take their eyes off their calling.”

While she is a celebrated artiste in South Africa, Aunt Dot’s said her wish is to be remembered back home as a woman who worked hard in her musical career.