Swabi reflects on a 40-year musical legacy
Sharon Mathala | Monday January 19, 2026 06:00
Though old age has crept in, Swabi’s frail appearance is deceptive as his energy remains strikingly youthful; his storytelling is animated by decades of lived experience. When asked whether he is ready to hang up the microphone, he pauses briefly and answers.
“Very soon, actually. I don’t think that by next year, I will still be able to perform. The years have passed, but music is the only thing I know, you know,” he said.
But before that, Swabi had taken us down memory lane on his illustrious career and how it all began. He started just ordinarily playing his ‘Setinkane’ to his family during their evening fire chats and chanting whatever lyrics came to mind.
At the time, music was not a career option.
Little did he know that this humble Setinkane would one day take him beyond Botswana’s borders, making him one of the first people from his village to fly to the United Kingdom and ultimately become his livelihood. A relative later gifted him a worn-out guitar, thus further shaping his musical journey.
“In those days, instruments were not the fancy ones you see now. We made them ourselves. We would punch holes in cooking oil containers, run wires through pieces of wood, and beat them to create sound ‘ne ele one mototonyane,” he said.
Swabi says he never attended a music school. Every note, every melody, came purely from imagination.
In the 1980’s, armed with his battered guitar, he walked into Radio Botswana studios to record what would become his first single, ‘Bagamangwato ba mabiletsa’.
“I didn’t even have the lyrics written down. I just went with intuition,” he says. At RB1, he found presenters who ushered him into the booth. “They told me when the light turned red, I should start singing. And I did. The words just flowed. I didn’t think it was serious at all,” he added. What Swabi did not realise was that the song was being broadcast live across the country. He noticed presenters dancing in the studio but assumed it was only within the room.
“When I left and got into a combi, it was my voice playing. When I reached home, the song was still on the radio. That’s when it hit me, it was everywhere.”
Overnight, Swabi became a household name.
“People stopped calling me George,” he says. “They called me Bagamangwato. That’s how big the song was,” he adds.
Yet fame did not immediately translate into income. For years, Swabi performed without pay, unaware that music could be monetised. His first significant earnings came almost two decades later. “My real breakthrough came years later when we went to the UK for about six months. Before that, we didn’t get paid. I didn’t even know I was supposed to,” he explains.
Through classics such as Bagamangwato and Banyana ba Palapye, Swabi cemented his place in Botswana’s cultural history. Despite shifts in musical trends, he never altered his style to fit the times. “I stayed true to my sound,” he says simply. Today, Swabi’s livelihood is sustained largely through royalties. He credits the Copyright Society of Botswana (COSBOTS) for ensuring his work continues to earn income decades later.
“I never knew about royalties,” he admits. “I only knew about bookings, and as you grow older, those become fewer. When COSBOTS came to register my songs, I started receiving money, even for past years. I couldn’t believe it when the money reflected in my account.”
Reflecting on missed opportunities, Swabi says he would have loved to collaborate with the late Stiga Sola. Among contemporary artists, he mentions Charma Gal, Alfredo Mos, and Taolo Moshaga as musicians he enjoys.
“I listen to all kinds of music,” he says. “Things have changed. Musicians today brag more, but that’s their era. It’s not wrong, it’s just different,” he observes. In the digital age and streaming platforms, Swabi remains grounded.
“All I know is my guitar. The industry has changed, but for us from that time, we only knew the studio and live performance. I don’t record anymore, but I still perform,” he points out.
He jokingly refuses to sing for us. “Will you pay me?” he rhetorically asked, before breaking into laughter.
Swabi says his single ‘Bagamangwato baga mabiletsa’ continues to pay bills for him 46 years later.