News24 | Never too late: Gospel singer performs debut album at 71 after years singing at taxi ranks

• Mama Malesedi spent more than 40 years singing gospel songs at taxi ranks across Mafikeng, Pretoria, and Potchefstroom.
• Despite repeated rejection from the music industry and local radio stations, she never gave up, believing her songs were a message from God.
• Her debut album “Modimo Wari utlwa”, produced by Pastor John Ross Jamela Vuma, is now streaming and featured on Dumisa Channel and One Gospel.

Gospel singer Mmalesedi Mankonko Makitla, 71, is finally about to fulfil her lifelong dream of performing songs from her debut album on the big stage, after more than 40 years of singing at taxi ranks.

Makitla finally got her big break in early 2024, when she recorded her debut album, the culmination of years of prayer, perseverance and passion.

On 30 November, she’ll perform some of those songs at the Kasi Worship Gospel Concert 2025, at Moretele Park in Mamelodi, Pretoria.

“I started singing when I was nine,” Makitla recalls. “I used to love hymns. I would listen to my brother sing, and I’d join in. As I grew older, the songs just started coming to me, songs that nobody knew.”

The melodies, she said, would come naturally while cleaning the house, praying, or preparing for the day.

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“I never dreamed these songs. They just came. I would hear them in my heart,” she said.

Makitla said she has privately recorded more than 1 000 songs since 1982.

But the road was not easy. After recording two cassettes and forming a gospel choir group that produced two albums, she faced rejection after rejection from the music industry and local radio stations.

“We knocked on all the doors, but it didn’t work. They told me my songs were too long, and I sounded like I was preaching, but still, I didn’t stop,” Makitla said.

Instead, Makitla took her songs to the streets. With her group of six, including family members, she sang at taxi ranks and shopping malls across Mafikeng, Pretoria, and Potchefstroom.

She giggled:

“The music had to be known because it’s a message that heals people and teaches them to pray.”

Prayer, perseverance, pay off

Makitla said they sang at taxi ranks, two or three weekends a month.

“We would go out to the taxi ranks and spread the message. We did that for about two to three years,” she recalled.

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Even as the group grew tired and life took its toll, Makitla carried on alone, continuing to sing at taxi ranks for more than 40 years.

“When I pray, I persevere. If God is giving me these songs, He has a purpose for them. That’s why I never gave up.”

Her faith and her patience finally paid off.

At the age of 70, she released her debut studio album, Modimo Wari utlwa, produced by Pastor John Ross Jamela Vuma.

On how he discovered Makitla, Vuma said: “I was invited to Jazz Works to come and assist with recording one song for her, and I remember not wanting to go, but something in me pushed me to go.”

He added that when he met her, her story moved him because he realised that when she started in the industry, he was not even born yet.

The album, with eight tracks, carries messages of hope and perseverance.

“The first song tells people not to lose hope, that God hears us. You can pray today, and maybe God will answer you after 10 years. But don’t give up,” Makitla said.

Like ‘a seven-year-old with sweets’

The release marked the fulfilment of a lifelong dream.

“When I saw my video playing on Dumisa Channel and One Gospel, I couldn’t believe it,” she says, her voice breaking with emotion.

“I thought to myself: ‘Thank you, God. You have made me proud for being obedient.’”

Not everyone believed in her at first. Some family members urged her to stop.

“They said I was too old,” Makitla said, continuing:

Today, those same family members celebrate her success.

“Now they say maybe I’m a messenger,” she said, giggling.

Through her music, Makitla hopes to inspire others, especially those who feel forgotten or defeated.

“Young or old, don’t give up on your dreams,” she said. “If you believe you were given a purpose, go out and share it. Teach, preach, advise, don’t stop.”

When asked how it feels to have her music out in the world finally, Makitla said: “I’m so excited, it’s like I’m a seven-year-old with sweets. Something very young in me has awakened.”

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