One of the finest sound engineers in the country, Mr Thomas "The White Man" Makhanthisa, says that even though he plays multiple musical instruments, he is not likely to record his own album as he prefers to stay in the background.
Makhanthisa, who likes to call himself Mukhuwa, or "The White Man", as he lives with albinism, kicked off his music career in the 80s, back when he played the keyboard for Daniel Tshanda of Splash and The Dalom Kids. "I used to practise with them and arranged their music for them but was left out when the albums were released, because of my skin disorder. People who live with albinism had always been stigmatized, especially in those years. People did not want to be associated with us in public," he said.
Things changed for the better for him, though, when he joined an East Rand-based rock and roll band. "The band was called The van der Merwes, and used to play at top hotels and restaurants in and around Johannesburg. They did not treat me like an outsider, and I enjoyed myself there."
Makhanthisa has a music degree that he obtained from the University of Venda in 2006. When asked if people with albinism were still stigmatized by the public, he said it still happened but on a much smaller scale. "I was driving from Thavhani Mall recently when a car in front of me splashed dirty water onto my windscreen. I stopped immediately because I could not see. The guy behind me got out of his car and approached me angrily and said: 'Hey albino, why did you take a driver's licence when you know you have eye problems?' I just looked at him and he said: 'These albinos will kill us on the road. They know they can't see properly, but they are driving.' I just got out of my car, cleaned my windscreen and left," he said.
He has worked as a sound engineer at many national and international events and was the main man behind the scenes during local music diva Makhadzi's recent One Woman Show at Makhuvha stadium.
His parting words were a plea to the public to treat people with albinism with respect. "We are human beings just like you. We just have a skin condition. Rather call me 'The White Man' or 'Mukhuwa', but not an albino," he said.