She gets calls from people who tell her that their lives have been saved by her music.
Her music has healed and rescued people who were on the verge of committing suicide.
Now, with an honorary doctorate in philosophy of sacred music, there is no denying her impact in the gospel music industry.
For Dr Winnie Mashaba, the day she was made aware of her impact was “the most beautiful day of my life”.
“Even today, I don’t understand what happened. I was [merely] doing music out of the love [that I have for it]. I was [called and told] told that they’ve been investigating me, so they want to know what it is that I’ve been doing, what I have achieved, they want it all in black and white.”
Shortly after she submitted all that was required, she received a letter that she qualified for the doctorate and was invited to an honorary ceremony at the Trinity International Bible University.
Carrying the title is still surreal such that she herself forgets to use it at times but only because she doesn’t let it overpower what she has always deemed herself to be – a performer and a musician.
“Being a musician comes first before everything.”
Read More | This is why Winnie Mashaba believes she received her honorary doctorate
Growing up, all she dreamt of being was a singer, performing on the biggest stages and seeing herself on TV, all of which have come to fruition.
The door to reaching her dreams opened when she was only in grade 11 in 1998 and her mother brought a “secret visitor” home. It was Solly Moholo. At the time, he was one of a very few big Zion musicians.
As young as she was, Winnie’s mother entrusted Solly with her passionate daughter. Everywhere she went, she would be found singing her heart out and her mother knew she couldn't let the talent go to waste.
Taking her under his wing, Solly returned to Pretoria with her to start off the career that is now 25 years old in the making.
Talking to Drum from the study in her home in Polokwane which is walled by golden, platinum and double platinum plaques of all her albums, she says ,“I thought I have done it all in the industry because I’m already grooming other artists gore le bona ba enjoy’e (so that they can also enjoy) this industry”, but that seems to not be the case as she is still ticking of firsts on her list.
For the first time in her 25th year of being a gospel artist, she has a gig outside of the African continent. She will be headlining the UK Worship Night on 24 June this year.
Quoting a song from her latest album, Relebogile, that says “Tate o rile akeso fetse ka wena (The lord said ‘I’m not done with you’)”, she adds that “[I thought] I’m heading towards my exit in the industry [but] according to the results that I am seeing, it feels as if ke gona ke tsena ka gare ga industry (I just entered the industry).”
She says this is based on the fact that he music is in demand currently. Last year she was booked all-year round and by the look of things, that’s how this year will also turn out.
Throughout the years, this has not always been the case. The going has gotten tough and her talent wasn’t always enough to sustain her.
2011 and 2012 were her hardest years because she spent the most part of these years at home, without bookings.
But because she didn’t doubt her gift from God and her faith remained unshaken, she says, “funny enough, I’ve never thought of quitting the music industry”.
Instead, she started a catering and events management company which saw her through the trying times and kept her busy. To date, the company is still operational.
The multi-award winning gospel singer believes that these years were the time-out that God gave her to take a break, recuperate, evaluate and re-invest in her gift of singing.
Drawing strength from her full name which is ‘Bawinile’ meaning ‘they have won’, she told herself that “My parents understood very well when they gave me this name, it means I’m a winner, I’m not a loser and le Modimo o le bless’itse lebitso le (even God blessed this name) so I don’t give up easily.”
“The main purpose of my entry into the industry it was not for me to make money. I was in this industry for many years, nine years later that’s when I knew gore (that) I could perform and service provider ya go patella (would pay you). I was surviving on the profit that I would get from the CDs and cassettes that I would sell on the streets.”
For her, hearing her music play on the radio was all she ever wanted and she’s glad that her mother got to hear it before she passed on in 2001 after a short illness.
“Don’t come home, I’m healed”, were her mother’s last words to her while she was promoting her second album. The next morning, she was informed of her passing and her life changed forever.
Although she still misses the biggest fan of her work, she says that she always tries to avoid disappointing her.
The gospel hitmaker had to take in her younger brother, Morereng and raise him. He is now a qualified engineer and artist manager.
As years went by, she also adopted her sister’s daughter who was very young at the time and named her Bawinile – after her.
Even with two children she considered her own, the itch to conceive was one she could not shake off. Her husband of 12 years eventually left their marriage when she couldn’t give him a child of his own.
“It was unbelievable but you know, when something is no longer working out, you accept the defeat and let everything [unfold],” she tells Drum about the day she realised that her marriage was nearing to its end because of her inability to conceive at the time.
This chapter of her life is one that she has shared with the world on various platforms, testifying about her first conception after turning 40 years old.
Given that she is usually a private person, being in the limelight made her believe that her story was meant to uplift, restore faith and give hope to the many hopeless women who are going through what she went through.
“Relebogile ase ngwana waka ke noshi, Relebogile ke ngwana wa batho (Relebogile is not my child alone, she is the child of the women) who are going through the same thing that I went through. When they see me with Relebogile, they must approach me so they can hug her with the belief ya gore le bona one day Modimo o tla kwa dillo tsa bona, a ba bless’a gore ba humane that blessing e le nna ke humaneng (that God will also one day hear their prayers and bless them with the same blessing that I got) after so many years.”
The gospel mogul is a mother to her miracle baby, Relebogile, whose name is also the title of her latest album and also the name of her 25th anniversary tour.
Read More | Gospel singer Winnie Mashaba welcomes baby girl
Unlike her previous 18 albums, she tells Drum that the latest album is meant to give gratitude to God for finally answering her prayers and making her the real-life Sarah and Hannah from the bible.
The other albums which are closest to her heart include Thula Ngwaneso which she released in 2006 and Ke Rata Wena which was released two years later. The former was the album she rose to fame with and the latter was the first she dreamt of.
“I was dreaming around 2am, singing Ke Rata Wena in Xitsonga. I was not singing alone, I was singing with a young boy [and] that young boy looked exactly like the late Nkosi Johnson.”
After releasing that album, it became yet another hit under her name. Still on a roll, the legend in the making says she will be releasing a single called Sechaba Saka on 15 March, building up to her concerts.
With the tour, “we’re not just celebrating 25 years, we’re taking it home where it all started in Sekhukhune”.
After debuting in Limpopo, the tour will then go to Pretoria where her love for music was nurtured, then in Botswana where her first album’s biggest sales came from and then Mpumalanga.
The concerts will be graced by the presence of Reverend Benjamin Dube and Sbu Noah, while giving a platform to upcoming artists like Khutjo Malete and her protege, Mapula Monyepao, who became her back-up singer at the age of 17. Mapula is now a solo artist at the age of 28 years old and an assistant pharmacist by profession.
Seeing that being a musician knocked on Mapula's door around the same time that it knocked on hers, she made sure that the young singer furthers her studies and doesn't just rely on the love for singing. The Dumisa TV presenter learned from her personal experience that dropping out of school isn't the wisest choice.
Unable to keep up with her career taking off, Winnie dropped out of matric and only obtained her senior certificate in 2012 after which she studied towards an advanced diploma in events management from the University of Pretoria.
She now prides herself in grooming younger artists just as she was groomed by Solly whom she regards as "my father in the industry".
