Benjamin John Peter Tyamzashe

TYAMZASHE, Benjamin John Peter. b. Kimberley, South Africa, 5 September 1890; d. East London, Republic of South Africa, 5 June 1978. Also known affectionately was B-ka-T, Tyamzashe was the son of a Congregational minister in South Africa and a prolific composer of over 200 works (Dargie, 1997). He followed John Knox Bokwe*’s footsteps in adding innovations to the makwaya* style of singing, a choral form often sung by large groups of people in church and civic settings. Tyamzashe was educated at the Lovedale Institution in Umtata and obtained a Primary Teacher’s Diploma. Through private study he was awared his Senior Teacher’s Diploma while teaching at the Tiger Kloof Institution in Vryburg...