In South Africa in 1969 the lines were clearly drawn. Blacks did not mix with whites, and whites did not mix with blacks. But then, nothing is ever clear or easy or straightforward where racism is concerned, a fact made even more potent by the reality that racism was the law of the day. Apartheid cost countless lives and destroyed many more; however, it could not prevent Johnny Clegg and Sipho Mchunu from forming a musical partnership which would result in the first ever South African group to mix Zulu with European, traditional with rock, and black with white. Now, after an eleven year separation, the pair have reunited to continue on their musical journey.

Nineteen sixty-nine was the year Clegg and Mchunu met. Both were 17 and eager to experiment and share their cultures. They were not interested in changing the laws which sought to separate them. They wanted only to make music and to dance...together. Clegg's white middle class background differed greatly from that of Mchunu, a Zulu migrant worker who came to Johannesburg in search of employment. The two found their common ground musically and began performing together. They launched their groundbreaking group Juluka in 1979 with the debut album Universal Men.

In an interview conducted during this summer's reunion tour, Clegg recalled the difficulty the duo had in assembling and then keeping a group together. "Juluka was Sipho and me," he said. "Our band members changed all the time. We went through, like, eight drummers and five bass players. They couldn't understand what it was we were trying to do." Juluka's problem was twofold. "We had an outward battle with the media, with the radio, with the TV, with the government. There was an inward battle with the band members." For Clegg and Mchunu, mixing musical cultures seemed perfectly logical. "We had very strong ideas about what we wanted to do."

After two platinum and five gold albums, Juluka fell victim to the pressures of international success and Mchunu returned to a traditional life on his family's farm in Zululand. Political, business, and management demands had taken their toll. Around this time, Juluka's musical balance had begun to tip in favor of rock, and so, remembered Clegg, "...he (Mchunu) basically thought, the stuff that's going down internationally is not really the traditional stuff...It's not the stuff that's being put on the radio because it's in Zulu. So it's always going to ride second best to the mainstream of what Juluka was doing." In addition, other responsibilities weighed heavily on Mchunu. "You know," continued Clegg, "He has 29 kids and five wives. He didn't want to tour anymore internationally, and so the band broke up."

Mchunu became involved in development projects in his community and built a school with profits from Juluka. He also tried starting his own traditional band. Nama Bhubesi released two albums and toured South Africa, but the timing was wrong. "Traditional music in the late 80s was seen to be backward," explained Clegg, "(It) was seen to be politically retrogressive, reactionary. And the rise of Inkatha meant that traditional Zulu music was seen as aligned to tribalism. There's a very strong tension in South Africa between modernism and tribalism." The group disbanded.

Clegg's musical path after Juluka is well known. He continued on, launching his new group Savuka in 1986, just one month before South Africa declared a national state of emergency. Amid the climate of violence and censorship, Clegg wrote some of his most politically powerful work. Songs like "Asimbonanga" (a tribute to then-jailed Nelson Mandela, the song was banned from South African radio), "Human Rainbow," and "One Human One Vote" captured the mood of a desperate nation. Tragedy struck Clegg and the group as friends, colleagues, even band member Dudu Zulu, were killed in the dark years of apartheid.

Savuka is a Zulu term meaning "we have risen" or "we have awakened." Does Clegg feel he's accomplished that? "Yeah, we've done that," he said, proclaiming the end of the group. "The Savuka project is over." His focus now is set clearly on the future.

After concluding the summer tour, work will resume on a new studio album with Juluka to be completed early in 1997. Clegg is also involved in several other endeavors, including two South African radio stations, a concert promotions company, and MTV South Africa. His concern with promoting the music of his country goes well beyond making records. "I have a very broad interest in extending my musical experience into these areas which affect music," he said, referring to the business activities. "I think that music in South Africa has had a bad deal for a long time."

Two years ago Clegg started his own record company, Look South, in which Juluka will play a major role. "I'm hoping for Juluka to be the flagship of the record company. After which we'd like to sign just three acts; a traditional act, a dance act, and a rock act. Basically as the three major modes of music now current in South Africa." Despite his wish to "keep it small," Look South (along with the other music business opportunities) places Clegg in a unique situation. He has both the position and the ability to affect the course of popular music in South Africa.

And what of Juluka? The group conducted a 27 city summer tour of the U.S. and Canada in support of the compilation CD Putumayo Presents: A Johnny Clegg and Juluka Collection [Putumayo World Music]. It's quite different from 1991's The Best Of Juluka [Rhythm Safari]. None of the songs are duplicated and, according to Clegg, "We think the songs on the album are a very good reflection of the best of our songwriting."

The concert crowds were enthusiastic and populated with longtime fans as well as curious newcomers. The show typically opened with the band performing "Cruel Crazy Beautiful World" and a number of other well known Savuka favorites. During the song "Siyayilanda," each band member was featured with an extended solo before departing. Clegg remained on stage taking a few minutes to talk about and then introduce Sipho Mchunu. The audience reacted with shouts of "Welcome back, Sipho!"

Clegg and Mchunu began with "Thula 'Mtanami" (from the album Universal Men). Mchunu sang lead while Clegg took the unusual, but seemingly comfortable, supporting role. One by one the rest of the group reemerged to take their places on stage. Juluka had returned.

According to Clegg, each Juluka album was a different musical experiment. He expressed the group's desire to experiment even further. "The stuff that we're playing now is like, hiphop with Zulu guitar...Euro-dance rhythms, reggae, and Zulu guitar and concertina. It's very modern," he asserted, shrugging off concerns about offending old listeners. Clegg himself has been funding the studio project and appears content to "give the Juluka direction of songwriting a chance to breathe and develop and see how that works. We're both (himself and Mchunu) very relaxed about this. There's no pressure or urgency."

With a new album in the wings and so many other projects on his plate, Clegg is optimistic about the future. "Our coming together is in a way (a) very important reaffirmation that you can continue in the new South Africa as a culturally based group mixing music and mixing ideas."

While the new South Africa struggles to redefine itself, Clegg and Juluka continue to explore new possibilities of their own. The future for all South Africans is certain to be a challenge but, as Clegg himself wrote, "Gotta keep looking at the skyline, not at the hole in the road" (from "Your Time Will Come" [Heat, Dust & Dreams]).