Dizu Plaatjies & Mzwandile Qotoyi
Dizu Plaatjies & Mzwandile Qotoyi — From B&W Music to MELT 2000
Percussionists Dizu Plaatjies and Mzwandile Qotoyi, founding members of Amampondo, were among the first South African artists to record for B&W Music in the early 1990s. Their collaboration with producer Robert Trunz helped launch a wave of recordings that captured the authentic sound of Southern African traditional music at a pivotal time in the country’s history.
Born and raised in Langa township, Cape Town, Dizu Plaatjies had long been known as an innovator — a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and cultural teacher who brought together the rhythms and instruments of the Pondo, Xhosa, and broader African traditions. With Mzwandile Qotoyi, his long-time musical partner and marimba specialist, he co-led Amampondo, a group whose explosive performances became a symbol of post-apartheid cultural pride and international success.
Their first project under the B&W Music banner was through DZM Projects, a creative platform that allowed musicians to experiment with new sound concepts while retaining deep traditional roots. Dizu and Mzwandile were featured prominently on Ethno Trance Live (BNET002) — a stereo DAT field recording made at Silvermine Park, Cape Town, and filmed by Dick Jewell. The session captured the raw energy of a live open-air performance, combining hypnotic trance rhythms, hand percussion, marimbas, and natural ambience — an early expression of the sonic direction that would later define MELT 2000.
Following this, B&W Music released a number of Amampondo projects, including Drums for Tomorrow and Laughter for the Children, both showcasing Dizu’s musical direction and Qotoyi’s powerful bass marimba foundation. When the label transitioned into MELT 2000, the two remained central to its identity, embodying the “Musical Energy and Loud Truth” ethos through their commitment to cultural authenticity and rhythm as a language of unity.
In 1996, Plaatjies and Qotoyi appeared in “Africa 2000 @ Bagley’s, London”, performing alongside Amampondo, Airto Moreira, Changuito, Mabi Gabriel Thobejane, Brice Wassy, and Byron Wallen — a concert later released on DVD by MELT 2000. Their contribution at that event underscored the continuity between the label’s African roots and its growing international collaborations.
Beyond group recordings, both artists continued to collaborate across MELT 2000 sessions — from percussion features on albums by Madala Kunene, Pops Mohamed, and Mabi Thobejane, to educational and community projects in the Western Cape that preserved traditional instruments and rhythms for new generations.
From the first DZM Projects recordings in 1994 to their appearances on major MELT 2000 stages. Their work represented the link between the ancestral voice of Southern African percussion and the experimental, borderless world of MELT 2000.