Heritage Day: These SA workers record a love letter to Africa

A group of employees at a Cape Town-based renewable energy company came together to form a choir and record their own rendition of one of the most celebrated songs written about the continent in celebration of Heritage Day.

The Red Rocket employees (Rocketeers) come from different parts of the business and, outside of their normal working day, have spent hours upon hours rehearsing Toto’s Africa ahead of the big day.

That was followed by two full days recording in a studio, before the group came together again for a music video shoot at the beginning of September.

The story is less about a company producing a corporate song and more about the people behind the business - renewable energy professionals committing their evenings and weekends to making music together for a day of great significance to South Africa.

The song has been reverberating through our offices these past months and the end product is what happens when colleagues from different parts of a business and indeed from different cultures and heritage come together around a creative project.

Red Rocket CEO, Matteo Brambilla, said: “At its heart, this project is a love letter to Africa, the continent that brought us together, inspired our journey and continues to power our purpose.

“What makes it even more special is that the voices behind this performance belong to more than 200 Rocketeers, most of whom had never stepped into a recording studio before, let alone performed professionally.

“Yet they embraced the challenge with incredible passion and enthusiasm. The result isn't just a tribute to an iconic song, it's a celebration of our people, our culture, and the spirit of collaboration that makes Red Rocket such a unique place to work. If Toto ever gets to see it, we hope they'll recognise it as a sincere and heartfelt homage from a company that is proud to call Africa home.”

THE NATIONAL