Cyril Ramaphosa, the president in trouble, is getting hit hard from all sides. He has been found to have used a well-known song allegedly without permission, after it was discovered that he was in trouble and had to answer questions about the millions that were found at his Phala Phala Farm in Limpopo. Thuma Mina, sung by the late jazz great Bra Hugh Masekela, is the song in question. The song was used in Ramaphosa’s first State of the Nation address when he took office as President of the country.
It’s Chicco’s song The song Thuma Mina, which translates to “send me,” became Ramaphosa’s guiding principle. Since then, Zimoja has established that the song’s owner is producer and music mogul Sello “Chicco” Twala, who also owns the lyrics. Twala brought up the fact that they were using his song illegally without paying him royalties, and President Ramaphosa continued to use the song during his public appearances. According to Samro regulations, if a song is used publicly, users must pay for it. According to the source, Ramaphosa and his team stopped using Twala’s song for commercial purposes when he told his publisher about how it was being used.
Twala confirmed that his song was being used without their permission when he was contacted for clarification.
“I asked whoever was in charge to stop using my song without permission from the publishers or through the appropriate channels,” He responded, “nothing, no dime, I never got anything,” when asked if he had ever been compensated for the song.
Vincent Magwenya, the spokesperson for the president, requested that we send him questions, but as of this writing, he had not responded. He said, “Please send text messages,” but never did.