Now, with Ndingubani out, Mabandla finds himself in another chapter of a career that has always been about movement, experimentation and looking inward.
The title of the new album translates to ' who am I ' a phrase that he points out comes without a question mark. Depending on the angle, it can function as both an existential question and a statement of selfhood.
Mabandla has been sharing his inner self through song for a decade and a half, and Ndingubani continues that tradition while drawing from some of the experiences that have shaped him.
In an interview, Mabandla speaks about the thinking behind some of the album’s songs. Written after receiving good medical news, the radiant Kude comes complete with swaggering rhythm section, shimmering keyboard and a saxophone solo the sound of Mabandla celebrating life and its fullest potential.
The propulsive Libambe Lingatshoni is meanwhile based on a Xhosa phrase that Mabandla loves. “It means you need to hold the sun before it falls down, so it doesn’t disappear,” he explains. To hold on, therefore, to life before it ends.
“I put my trust in some wrong people. There was backstabbing, lying,” he has said in an interview.
There is also tenderness in the album. Other friends remain a centering, cherished force in his life, something Mabandla captures on the glowing Mngan’wam, or My Friend, written for those who stood by him in difficult times.
The vulnerability in Ndingubani follows a career built on allowing different parts of himself to find their way into his music.
Mabandla first came to the attention of music fans with his 2012 debut, Umlilo. Working with composer, instrumentalist and producer Tiago Correia-Paulo, he has since released Mangaliso in 2017, iimini in 2020 and amaXesha in 2023.
Umlilo saw Mabandla being called a modern miracle by Radio France Internationale (RFI). “His haunting, ethereal voice carries messages of heartache and healing from the Eastern Cape and yet captures the contemporary urban-African landscape,” said RFI.
That Eastern Cape identity has remained an important part of Mabandla’s story. He grew up in the rural town of Tsolo, singing in church, at school and at home before heading to Johannesburg to study drama at AFDA. Music, however, was not necessarily where he thought he would end up.
“I was always going to become an artist. I was very deep into a lot of art mediums,” he says.
Throughout high school, Mabandla was a serious painter and thought he would finish school and study painting.
“Sometimes I think I probably should have. That really was my first gift growing up, drawing and painting, and I might get into it a little bit more now,” he has said. Acting was another serious interest. In fact, it was acting that initially brought him to Johannesburg.
“But I was very serious about becoming an actor. That’s actually how I came to Johannesburg. When I got here, I got bored and ended up changing to music.” Before music fully took over, he appeared on Generations and acted in A Million Colours.
That background in different artistic disciplines has remained visible throughout his career. Mabandla has expanded his talents into film and visual art while continuing to push the boundaries of his music.
With Mangaliso, he began introducing more electronic rhythms into the foundations established on Umlilo. In 2018, the album won the South African Music Award for Best Alternative Music Album.
In its write-up, the publication said: “With each song acting as a chapter in the book of their story together, Bongeziwe brought out all the passion and pain that comes from opening one’s heart to another. His voice, the balm to calm and soothe even the saddest of hearts that, during a time of quarantine, had nowhere else to go but in.”
That period also saw Mabandla included in Billboard’s Live-At-Home performance. The publication wrote that viewers could look at him, whether they understood Xhosa or not, and channel his despair and desire for someone right through the screen.
NPR’s All Songs Considered featured masiziyekelele from iimini on its Heat Check show, describing it as “a gorgeous saving grace in trying times.”
Mabandla also featured in ColorsxStudios’ HOME/BRED series during the global lockdown, with the performance later appearing in the platform’s Best Of edition.
iimini charted on both iTunes and Spotify and inspired a series of remixes, including “Ndanele (Dwson Dub Remix),” which was nominated for a 2021 SAMA in the Remix of the Year category, Muzi’s version of “Mini Esadibana Ngayo”, DJ Lag’s remix of “ndiyakuthanda (12.4.19)” and a remix of “zange” by Guatemalan artist Mose.
His live career grew alongside the music. Mabandla regularly sold out tours in South Africa, with his November 2021 outing becoming one of the fastest selling tours by a solo contemporary homegrown artist.
Despite the pandemic constraints of 2020 and 2021, he continued building his domestic and international live career, selling out shows in the UK, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland in 2021 and 2022.
His festival appearances have included the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, Reeperbahn Festival in Germany, Lake of Stars in Malawi, Afrovibes Festival in the Netherlands, WOMEX in Finland, Oslo World Festival in Norway and six editions of Safiko Music Festival in Réunion.
In 2024, Mabandla embarked on a landmark amaXesha tour spanning South Africa, Europe, the United States and Latin America. The tour featured multiple sold-out shows and drew more than 5,000 attendees to his South African performances alone. It also marked another shift in his sound, with afrotech and afrohouse finding their way into his signature style.
But even as the music has travelled further, home has remained close. In an interview about his life between South Africa and Europe, Mabandla spoke about living in Paris and what it has meant to experience another culture.
“I’m everywhere these days, living between two countries. I wanted to see what doors would open for me living in a different culture, especially in a big place like Paris. It’s been life-changing, but I’ve been very careful I don’t abandon my South African side,”
That connection to home comes through strongly in the video for Yalwa. As the camera pulls back, two women dressed in a mix of crisp white and black traditional isiXhosa umbhaco garments and chic designer wear emerge as central figures. They are Mabandla’s mother and aunt.
The imagery brings together traditional clothing, designer fashion, cattle and the forested ridges of the Eastern Cape, placing Mabandla himself within a landscape and history that continues to influence his work.
That relationship with heritage has become even more significant as he has spent more time away from the people and places he grew up around.
After years of finding particular acclaim in France, including a nomination for the prestigious Radio France Internationale award early in his career, Mabandla settled in Paris amid bouts of touring and travelling through Europe. His career has increasingly crossed borders, but his creative identity remains rooted in the same place.
As he said in an interview about his creative approach: “Everything I do is measured against how artistic and interesting it is both for me and my audience.”
That may be the simplest way to understand the journey so far. Mabandla keeps changing, but the curiosity remains. And with Ndingubani, the question of who he is becomes another piece of the music.
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