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Simphiwe Dana: "I cried over the beautys of Africa"

She may possess one of the most powerful voices in African music, but South African soul singer Simphiwe Dana is using her voice for a different reason - to bring an awareness of Africa's future and potential through Arts and Culture.

Simphiwe played ambassador recently when she met with the African Union and it's South African chairperson, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, to discuss the union's vision for Africa .

"I requested a meeting with the chairperson of the AU, our very own Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. She has written the African Union Agenda 2063. It’s a beautiful dream that details a future vision of Africa.It’s a letter from the year 2063 to tell Kwame Nkrumah about how Africa has developed in the future. It’s so beautiful, I cried when I read it," Simphiwe told City Press in an interview.

However, Simphiwe noticed that there was no section in the vision for musicians and creatives and so, with the permission of the chairperson she collected over 120 artists from the 50 member states to create a section in the vision about how musicians can help the continent develop.

Simphiwe also spoke about the effect the Marikana mining tragedy had on her outlook for Africa, an event that left her feeling "traumatised as a black person".

"It took me a long time to process it. I remember a lot of us artists called one another and talked about doing something. But we were all confused and shocked. "

Deep sister Africa, deep

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