 Mrubata continued creating his own bands, Cape to Cairo and McCoy and Friends.In the mid-1990s, he made the first of a series of albums as a leader, with "Face the Music" winning the 2003 South African Music Award (SAMA) in the Traditional Jazz category and "Icamagu Livumile" winning the same award in 2005.Besides his international musical journey, Mrubata also did some scoring work for South African productions about journalist Bloke Modisane and in 2001 starring in a Norwegian production based on the life of John Coltrane.