SEKONAKELE!

 

 

Phathwakahle Mabuza has been part of Eswatini's gospel music landscape for long enough for an entire generation of listeners to grow up with her music.

For listeners who first encountered her songs in primary school, her name is now attached to a very different stage of life. The child who knew the songs is now an adult, while Phathwakahle continues to perform, record and appear on some of the country's established entertainment and gospel platforms.

That is the more interesting measure of her career. Phathwakahle first became widely known after the release of Akezeli Akalali in 2010. According to Music In Africa's profile on the singer, the album and its hit song, Kukhona Okuzowendzeka, pushed her into prominence in the local gospel scene. The profile describes her as the Queen of Swazi Gospel and records the growth in performance opportunities that followed the album's release.

By then, gospel music in Eswatini had an established audience, but Phathwakahle's rise gave the genre another recognisable female voice. Her subsequent album, Ingadlangadla, brought more attention and a busier performance schedule, with invitations to roadshows, promotions, corporate events and other functions.

Her career was not built around one release. There were more albums, more performances and more recognition. Her catalogue eventually included projects such as Sekonakele, Jehova Sewehlile, Mbize and Bayekele Bakhulume. A 2024 report on her planned live recording stated that she had reached seven studio albums and was preparing Ukwenza Kwenzeka, a project intended to mark her first live album.

Among those releases, Sekonakele occupies a particular place in her catalogue. The title track was released on May 31, 2016, as part of the album Sekonakele (Jehova Sewehlile). Music credits list Phathwakahle as the lead vocalist and songwriter, with Gcina Mabuza and Jabu Nkabinde credited as producers.

By the time Sekonakele was released, Phathwakahle had already spent several years building an audience. That is significant because longevity in music is not guaranteed by a successful first album. The industry changes, audiences change, and new performers enter the scene. An artist can have a recognised song and still struggle to maintain relevance after the attention surrounding it has passed.

Phathwakahle's career followed a different path. Her name continued to appear on major stages in Eswatini and across the border. Music In Africa records performances before King Mswati III and Indlovukazi, at the Cabinet Swearing-in Ceremony and at the State Opening of Parliament. 

It also records appearances at events in South Africa, including the Ukhozi FM Easter Festival in Port Shepstone, the Nelson Mandela Prayer at Mbombela Stadium and a Gospel Blestival at Moses Mabhida Stadium, where she shared a stage with American gospel artist Kirk Franklin.

Her recognition was also reflected in awards. In 2013, she received two NACA awards, winning Best Female Artist and the public-voted Most Popular Artist category. She was also nominated for the Crown Gospel Awards, the South African Traditional Music Association Awards and local gospel awards, according to her Music In Africa profile. 

Those achievements belong to the earlier part of her career, but they help explain why her name has remained familiar over the years. The more revealing evidence of longevity is what happened afterwards.

Phathwakahle continued releasing music and performing, including after periods away from the local gospel scene. Her return with Sekonakele, Jehova Sewehlile was noted as a comeback after a sabbatical. The project included Sekonakele, KuJesu Kuyenzeka, Buntu, Buntfu Izigi and Vuthelani.

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Almost a decade after that album's release, she was still presenting the work to audiences. In July 2024, she held a live recording at The Luke Commission's Miracle Campus in Sidvokodvo. The event was billed as The Best of Phathwakahle and centred on her musical journey, with the theme 'Spiritual Healing – Do Not Stop Dreaming, Only God Knows When '. The programme included praise and worship, testimonials, motivation and prayer alongside the live DVD recording.

The choice to revisit her music in a live setting was telling. Rather than treating the earlier catalogue as something confined to the past, the project placed those songs and that body of work before an audience again. It also showed how her role had developed.

Phathwakahle was no longer only the singer behind a collection of successful gospel recordings. Her work had become connected to worship gatherings, motivation and messages directed at young people facing unemployment, setbacks and peer pressure. In 2024, she said the live project was intended to encourage young people to continue dreaming despite those challenges.

That broader role has continued into 2026. At this year's Eswatini International Trade Fair Gospel Sunday, Phathwakahle was among the performers on a programme that included South African gospel artist Jumbo and several other local and regional gospel acts. The Eswatini Observer reported that she delivered an energetic performance that had gospel lovers singing and dancing.

The significance of that appearance is not necessarily in the size of the stage. It is in the fact that the same artist whose early recordings established her name more than a decade ago remains part of the programme when the country's gospel community gathers for one of its established annual events.

 Her 2026 schedule also points towards another development in her career. Phathwakahle has announced The Altar of Revival, a New Year's Eve worship event planned for December 31 in partnership with Destiny Events. According to the Eswatini Observer, the gathering will focus on prayer, worship and spiritual renewal, with Phathwakahle saying the intention is to have people enter 2027 in God's presence.

The event represents a shift from being part of a programme to helping create one. That distinction matters when considering longevity. An artist who has remained active for more than a decade eventually has to find ways of extending the career beyond the release cycle. For Phathwakahle, the current direction appears to include creating spaces around the music and ministry that have defined her career.

She is also scheduled to bring gospel music to the Eswatini Lifestyle Awards 2026. Recent coverage of the awards describes her as one of the familiar voices in Eswatini's Christian music scene and notes that her inclusion places gospel alongside the wider lifestyle and creative sectors represented at the event.

Her continued presence does not mean that the music industry around her has remained unchanged. The way listeners consume music has changed considerably since Akezeli Akalali was released in 2010. Older recordings now circulate through digital platforms alongside new releases, while artists have social media and streaming services through which audiences can find their work. 

Phathwakahle's catalogue is available through digital music services, giving earlier recordings another route to listeners who may not have encountered them when they were first released.

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A listener who discovered Kukhona Okuzowendzeka as a child can encounter it again years later through a digital platform. A song released in 2010 can therefore exist alongside music released much later without becoming inaccessible simply because the original release period has passed.

This is where the title Sekonakele takes on another relevance to the story. Released in 2016, the song belongs to a period that is now almost a decade behind the current music scene. Yet Phathwakahle continues to perform, her name continues to appear on major programmes, and her older catalogue remains part of the material associated with her.

Her longevity is therefore not only about the number of years she has been in the industry. It is about the ability to remain present while the industry around her changes. For a generation that first heard her music while growing up, that passage of time is particularly noticeable.

Someone who was 10 when Akezeli Akalali and Kukhona Okuzowendzeka were already part of the local gospel conversation would be 26 today. In that period, the listener would have moved from primary school into secondary school, then into adulthood. Phathwakahle's career would have moved through several albums, awards, performances, a live recording project and a new phase of worship events.

That is a considerable period for any artist. It is also why Phathwakahle's career is worth considering beyond the familiar descriptions attached to her name.

“Queen of Swazi Gospel” says something about her standing in the genre, but the more useful question is what has allowed that standing to endure. The answer is visible in the record of her career: a catalogue that continued beyond the breakthrough album, recognition that extended beyond a single awards season, performances that took her beyond Eswatini, and a willingness to remain active as audiences and platforms changed.

 In 2026, the career is still moving. The upcoming Altar of Revival places her at the centre of a new worship gathering, while her appearance at the Eswatini Lifestyle Awards places her among artists contributing to the country's wider creative and entertainment landscape. Her performance at Gospel Sunday further demonstrates that her older catalogue and established reputation still have a place alongside newer voices.

Sixteen years can change a listener's life considerably. For Phathwakahle, those years have produced a career that can be traced from Akezeli Akalali in 2010 to Sekonakele in 2016, the live recording project of 2024 and the worship events of 2026. The songs have moved with the years, and so has the artist. That, more than any single award or album, is the evidence of longevity.