World-Famous Soweto Music School Faces Funding Crisis

Buskaid, the music school based in Diepkloof, Soweto, has overcome many challenges in its 28-year existence. But now, says founder Rosemary Nalden, the school, which hosts the famous Soweto Strings Ensemble, faces its worst challenge yet: without new funding, Buskaid will not survive beyond February next year.

“We’ve survived HIV, we’ve survived Covid, we’ve survived under so many difficult circumstances but we’ve never been in the situation that we are in now. We are at the bottom of our funding and this has never happened in the history of Buskaid,” Nalden told GroundUp.

The project costs between R4.5-million and R5-million a year to run, she said.

Nalden, who was born in the UK but now calls South Africa home, started the school in 1997 to provide classical music education to youngsters in Soweto. Over the years she and her team have trained dozens of young players, many of whom are now professional players of string instruments. Some teach at Buskaid, passing on the skills they learned to a new generation of violin, viola, cello and double-bass players.

Learning a string instrument requires high levels of dedication and discipline, with studies showing that it can help brain development.

Keabetswe Goodman was a child when she started learning the violin at Buskaid in 1999. Under the guidance of Nalden, she developed into a professional musician and now works at Buskaid as a teacher.

Currently the school has about 80 students but there is a waiting list of around 70 children wanting to join the programme, according to Nalden.

The Buskaid String Ensemble has toured internationally dozens of times, playing alongside orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic, and has performed for Nelson Mandela, President Cyril Ramaphosa, and Michelle Obama.

There are about 30 people on the payroll, including teachers, the musicians at the Buskaid Soweto String Ensemble, and other staff.

“We would like to have another intake of kids and increase it to 100 but this requires more funding,” said Nalden.

Singer Sibongile Mngoma recently performed alongside the Buskaid Soweto String Ensemble at their annual concert at the Linder auditorium in Johannesburg.

Mngoma says that grassroots institutions like Buskaid do more for communities than just music education. “A lot of these kids have been saved from a life of crime and addiction. Places like Buskaid allow them to reach their full potential and become the best version of themselves,” said Mngoma.

But the concerts are expensive to put on and Nalden is worried. Since 2022, Buskaid has not had any government funding. The project relies on corporate and philanthropic donations, some of which dried up during Covid. Without new sources of funds, says Nalden, Buskaid will not be able to continue past the end of the financial year in February 2026.

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