Hugh Masekela’s Thuma Mina (Send Me) – the People’s Version was released on Friday in honour of Heritage month. Thuma Mina is a call to the people of South Africa to stand up collectively for change.

In the song, Hugh Masekela pens the lyrics “I wanna be there when the people start to turn it around”, which rings true to the very first words in South Africa’s Constitution, “We, the People”.

The people of South Africa are facing tremendous challenges in the face of COVID-19, such as severe poverty, a compromised economy, lack of access to healthcare and education, corruption and gender-based violence. Together, with a little help from some friends, Constitution Hill in partnership with the Hugh Masekela Heritage Foundation, have joined forces to produce a collaborative re-working: The People's Version – of the late, great Masekela’s anthemic Thuma Mina. The People’s Version strives to mobilise the citizens of South Africa into action, in support and empowerment of one another.

“It is not the size of the problems we must take into account, but rather our will, the people’s will, to create and manifest solutions, and our preparedness to scale those solutions across our diverse South African communities,” says Dawn Robertson, CEO of Constitution Hill.

Dawn and Mabusha Masekela - of the Hugh Masekela Heritage Foundation, join Brent to talk about the song; about South Africa and about ConHill. Constitution Hill website