Cape Town kicks Sjava’s ‘The 2018 Tour’ off to an electric start

by Nomonde Simelane

Popular musician and Bergville native Jabulani Hadebe, who is more affectionately known by his alias Sjava, has officially marked the start of  ‘The 2018 Tour’ in fully packed Grand West Casino in Cape Town.

After successfully wrapping up ‘The 2016 Tour‘ and ‘Isibuko Tour’ in 2024, Sjava has quickly emerged as a must-see entertainer as his live shows have left attendees feeling more than fulfilled. The musician, who spent a substantial part of his life in the bustling city of Johannesburg as a taxi driver, actor, and musician, has developed a unique sound that resonates with people across various cultures and languages and has even found some international success as one of the few South African artists to win a BET award.

As a testament to this, the musician recently hosted the first show in his highly anticipated tour, which is an ode to his extremely successful and acclaimed projects released in 2018, including his sophomore album Umqhele, as well as the Umphako EP, which contains bangers such as Abangani, Confession and Iqhawe. Taking place at the Grand West Casino in Cape Town, the event was a major success and served as a great opening for the tour at 95% capacity, which includes smaller cities such as Emalahleni and Bloemfontein, which are doing well in terms of ticket sales.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Sjava Indlalifa (@sjava_atm)

The show was characterised by an exciting opening performance by Bravo Le Roux, who warmed the crowd up nicely for the main event, which did not disappoint.

It is evident that the tracklist was carefully curated by the artist, as he made sure that all the fan-favourite tunes were included. Songs such as Confession, Ikhandlela, Umama and Eweni saw the audience singing along at the top of their lungs, as these songs tend to evoke deep emotions for listeners. However, the artist managed to sneak in Uyena into the playlist, which forms part of his latest offering titled Inkanyezi, and expected, he had the crowd off their seats, dancing and singing along in jubilation to the popular song.

Ofcourse, pulling off such a massive accomplishment is rarely done alone, but with the help of fellow artists, and Sjava sought the help of some notable names, including fan favourite vocalist Buhlebendalo Mda who performed Izitha, as well as Howard, who has proven to compliment Sjava’s sound quite well his features Ngempela and Ujesu. Sjava gives major credit to Howard for the existence of these songs, which have become among his top-liked tunes. Furthermore, close friends Nue Sam and Saudi also made appearances to perform their features Xola and Abangani with the man of the hour.

Also see: The Zulu Royal Family addresses leaked voice note