After an absence of 17 years from the music scene, Rofhiwa Phaswana of Makonde village, better known as “Mabizana”, made his long-awaited return when he released his latest amapiano single, titled “Hedzi Bari”, earlier this month.

After releasing two kwaito albums in 2004 and 2006 respectively, Mabizana took a long sabbatical from music to concentrate on his education. Over the past 17 years, he has acquired his BA and master’s degree in political studies. He also did basic firefighting and first-aid courses, short courses in business writing, and he became an office administration assessor and moderator. He is currently enrolled for his PhD in political studies at the University of Venda.

Having been absent from music for so long, Mabizana felt the time was right to rejoin the entertainment world. “Over the years, I had to deal with the pressure from my fans who wanted me to release more music. Although I love music wholeheartedly, my priority was to further my education first because I know that having a decent education gives me a foundation to lean on, should my music career hit a snag. I studied very hard and made sure that I passed all my qualifications in record time. Having acquired my qualifications, I felt it was time to fulfil what my fans had been asking for,” he said.

On this latest single, Mabizana worked with music guru DJ Davic of Masana Records. He extended a special word of thanks to his childhood friend, Mvenda Wa Ndou, for his continuous support and encouragement. “As a media personality and music promoter, Ndou used his resources to make sure that the single is widely distributed and available in all digital stores. It has also been played on various radio stations and the response from my fans is overwhelming. I am now working on a full album that will be released by the middle of next year,” he said.

His message to aspiring recording artists is, “Get yourself an education first before you fully venture into the music industry”.