Nelson Mandela Bay entertainer Gino Fabbri has taken his heritage-themed drum show to Cape Town, performing the latest leg his campaign to spread joy and portray South Africa as he believes it truly is — a country of good people.
Fabbri, also known for his Afrikaans speed-cop stage persona, plays drum solos that draw from kwaito, gqom, amapiano, deep house and Afro-house. He partnered with retail group Spar Eastern Cape to roll a heritage-themed tour out across the Sunshine Coast, Karoo and Garden Route regions, drawing diverse community audiences at select SPAR stores along the way.
The Cape Town stop followed an invitation to bring his music and messages of ubuntu to Superspar Blue Downs. Here in the Mother City staff, customers and people who pass by gathered around him and danced along to the drums. Many had already encountered him on social media and stopped for photographs.
“I spent the whole day at the launch and the guys loved it,” Fabbri said. “It’s a different vibe here in Cape Town — more Afrikaans than in the Eastern Cape and on the Garden Route, but no less inspiring.”
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He said he found that during his performances the focus shifted away from the country’s difficulties and towards its strengths. Among the moments that stayed with him was watching an elderly white man dance to his interpretation of the gqom hit “Omunye” and a worker strumming a yellow wet-floor caution sign with the confidence of Jimi Hendrix.
“Nothing broke through cultural barriers quite like a white man dressed as the archetypal boertjie while unleashing music synonymous with kasi culture.”
The road show grew from a viral moment. About a year before the tour began Fabbri posted a drum solo reel to TikTok. It resonated strongly with black audiences who had grown up with kwaito and gqom, views climbed and soon topped a million.
That response gave him the confidence to pitch the concept to Spar Eastern Cape. For the Blue Downs show his son Celso, a house-music producer and DJ based in Cape Town, helped put a list of 20 kasi bangers together for the set.
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Fabbri said the country needed unity and happiness and he was glad to contribute in a small way. He pointed to the build-up and hosting of the 2010 Fifa World Cup as a model, small things combining to create a powerful collective force.
“As a white guy I have never heard a black guy talk to me about the Rainbow Nation, but now I’m getting that all the time,” he said. “That’s a saying that got tainted over the years, but it’s true; Archbishop Tutu knew what he was talking about.”
He also urged people to step away from social media, which he said consistently favoured division. “I say don’t go online. Come to real people. People-to-people is the only way to fix our country.
“We really have good people in this country.”
