Jonah Sithole
Zimbabwean musician
Jonah Sithole (1952–1997) was a Zimbabwean guitarist, vocalist and composer, known particularly for the mbira-inspired style known as mbira-guitar or chimurenga music.
Early life
Jonah Sithole was born in the province of Masvingo and grew up in the mining town of Zvishavane (formerly Shabani), where his older brother worked as a miner as well as a musician for the mining camp band. Jonah first picked up the guitar as a twelve-year-old. When his brother was at work, he would play his guitar, imitating the sounds that his brother practiced around the house.
Jonah eventually moved to Bulawayo, where he attended Mpopoma High School until he was expelled in 1969, when he was a form 2 student. By then he was a decent guitar and bass player, so he followed his brother to Kwekwe and convinced him to admit him to his band, the Jairosi Jiri Kwela Kings, as a bass player. A few months later, in 1970, the band got a bar contract in Mbare, Harare and became known as the Delphans. Jonah became the band's rhythm guitarist.
Professional career
When the Delphans got a contract to play in Gweru, Jonah decided to remain in Harare with the purpose of starting his own band. In 1971, just three months into his first stint as a bandleader, he was approached by Jackson Phiri, leader of the Limpopo Jazz Band, a soukous (also known as Congolese rumba) outfit, to be their guitarist.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6271933. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1952, 1997, 1969 and 1970.
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This entry incorporates text from “Jonah Sithole” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.