Cop on the beat strikes right note at King Shaka
ARRESTING SOUND: Constable Sizwe Khalala can be found playing the piano at King Shaka International Airport during his breaks CONSTABLE Sizwe Khalala is not only a policeman on the beat, he’s also a copper on the keyboard.
When he’s taking a break from patrolling the King Shaka International Airport in Durban, Khalala — dressed in his blue uniform and neon reflector jacket — settles at a Steinway grand in the arrivals lounge and starts tickling the ivories, enchanting passers-by.
“I play to make people happy and to show them a side of the police that isn’t bad,” he said.
Khalala, 34, joined the police in 2006 and was transferred to King Shaka in 2008. At about the same time he learnt to play the piano at his church in KwaMashu.
“I’ve loved music since I was a child,” he said after a rendition of Joy to the World that drew an appreciative audience who snapped his picture on cellphones.
Last month, airport management brought in the piano to encourage anyone to play and create a “positive and cool atmosphere”.
Playing the piano doesn’t take him away from his priorities as a policeman, said Khalala.
“I’m aware that I’m working and watching what is happening around me,” he said.
Passengers passing by Khalala have been impressed.
Monametsi Olibile, a salesman
People have told me the music blesses and rejuvenates them and they like it
from Botswana who travels a lot, said he found Khalala’s music “very relaxing”.
“My flight was delayed but I didn’t even notice,” said Cynthia Gumede, an airport regular.
Dominique Mann took a picture and posted it on Twitter saying, “Nothing like a policeman showcasing his talent at King Shaka International Airport”.
Khalala said he had sat down at first just to play for himself.
“I was nervous and wasn’t aware that people noticed the small thing I was doing, but I’m happy about it anyway, and so is my supervisor. People have told me the music blesses and rejuvenates them and they like it,” he said.
His supervisor, Colonel Buyisiwe Joyce Makhathini, said she was proud of him.
“People saw a person in blue and they got to see that he knows something else besides fighting crime,” said Makhathini.
Airport spokesman Colin Naidoo said: “We put pianos in the airport to make them more accessible. We purchased them as part of our plan to create a more positive and cool atmosphere.”
The Steinway has been in the domestic arrivals area for a month and Naidoo said it was open to anyone interested in playing, adding that the airport would soon feature saxophonists, guitarists, drummers, poets and singers.