The answer is to do both. Spoek Mathambo is the action and the reaction. At 25, Mokgata is on the cusp of the generational split in South Africa, where those older than him share specific memories of the bad old days and the younger ones, while not exactly blissfully ignorant, certainly don’t bear the psychological scars of direct exposure. He bridges that gap. He joins his knowledge of the past with a vision of the future in a way that makes him odd to a 30-year-old and awesome to a kid, but familiar to both. His music is the next, somewhat illogical step in the evolution from funk to kwaito to house, and the younger kids are there to verify its progressive merit. His politics are not hackneyed radical slogans used to sell records or grab headlines, they’re real, and South Africans of a certain age (namely his grandmothers) would not let him get away with anything less. Everyone hears something in his songs that they can relate to, whether it’s the sharp lyrics or hectic music, and is thrown off balance by the other. Either way, he’s opening them up to something they may not have heard before. And that applies to people outside of South Africa, as well.
As Mokgata walks through his old neighborhood, pointing out where he wooed girls with juice boxes as a five-year-old and where his best friend used to live, a few people stop to talk to him. They don’t know him, and it’s not because he’s famous, they just see a dapper dude being interviewed and want to know what’s up. One kid does know him though. He pulls up in a souped ’90s Volkswagen—“Spoek Mathambooooo”—and asks when the next show around here will be. Mokgata promises “soon soon, man” and the kid drives off happy.

Spoek Mathambo, in any incarnation, has never been on the radio, is not part of the industry and doesn’t really take part in any Jo’burg scene. “I’ve been such a loner,” Mokgata says. “There are a couple people but nobody knows.” People do know, but they’re scattered across Sweden, England, New York, Paris and Johannesburg. He’s trying to consolidate their support now to get the broader attention of South Africa, and then the world. A few decades ago, a young Sowetan intellectual with something to say would have had plenty of people listening to his every word, Mokgata probably would’ve been dangerous. Now, with things not as bad as they used to be, Spoek Mathambo has to fight to be heard.