Skank And The Roots, a reggae band which was formed in 1990. It originates in Uitenhage and it is a band that consists of 5 members, namely being Nkenke Mooi, Desmond Dubula, Mkhangeli Matiwane, Deon Manell as well as Frank Barends. In honor of the famously celebrated Day of Reconciliation, the band hosted a Live Reggae Concert on the 14th of December 2022. The Reggae concert took place in The Caledon Guesthouse in Uitenhage.
When asked of challenges they faced while organizing this gathering, the event organizer and representative Matiwane, elaborates that the major challenge was the issue of funding particularly to reggae music in South Africa. He further attests to how music festivals tend to marginalize reggae music in the sense that reggae music bands are hardly seen performing live like kwaito, hip-hop artists, as well as those of other genres. However, the band partnered with the National Art’s Council (NAC) in hosting the live concert. It assisted in the full funding of the entire event.
According to Matiwane, the purpose of this festival was to revive the spirit of reggae because of how it conveys messages that portray the struggles during the apartheid.
“The highlight of the festival was the turn-up of people in honor of the event, people came out in numbers” says Matiwane. On behalf of Skank and the roots, he further gives gratitude to the people of Kariega because of how they gathered in numbers to embrace the original music by the band, especially because it’s been a while since they had a live performance.
Skank and the roots appreciates how people were willing to still listen to reggae music. It was really a dream come through. One love reggae Sunsplash had a greater capacity of honoring the day of reconciliation, where artists from different genres reconciled and performed with one another.
In partnership with the National Art’s Council (NAC), the event was a great success. The audience was very much impressed and were more than happy to feature in pictures around the setup of the event and with other artists.
"We look forward to more events like this and we are more than excited to honor more invites."