Mbongeni Ngema, a distinguished South African musician and creator of the musical “Sarafina!,” died on Wednesday in a automobile accident. He was 68.
“Ngema was killed in a head-on automobile accident whereas getting back from a funeral he was attending in Lusikisiki within the Japanese Cape this night,” his household mentioned in an announcement to the Related Press. It’s understood that he was a passenger within the automobile.
A playwright, producer and composer, he’s finest identified for creating the 1987 stage musical “Sarafina!,” which tells the story of a scholar lady who sees her trainer despatched to jail and conjures up different to struggle in opposition to the racial segregation system often known as apartheid. In 1981, he additionally created “Woza Albert,” a satirical stage drama through which Jesus Christ returns to Earth as a black South African.
“Sarafina!,” with lyrics co-written by Hugh Masekela, first opened on the Market Theatre in Johannesburg with Leleti Khumalo within the title function. With Khumalo reprising the function, it transferred to Broadway in 1988 and performed on the Cort Theater for practically 600 performances till it closed in July 1989.
“Sarafina!” was produced as a musical movie that debuted in 1992 on the Cannes Movie Competition. It was directed by Darrell Roodt and produced by Anant Singh. The movie starred Khumalo, Miriam Makeba, John Kani and Whoopi Goldberg.
Apartheid was nonetheless operational on the time the movie rights had been acquired and Hollywood studios reportedly selected to not finance the movie manufacturing. Singh assembled finance as an alternative from the BBC within the U.Ok. and French producer Revcom. By the point filming began, Nelson Mandela had been launched from jail and apartheid had official been abolished.
“The various productions he created or to which he contributed impressed resilience and pleasure amongst us as fellow South Africans and took South Africa and our continent into the theatres, properties and consciousness of tens of millions of individuals world wide,” mentioned South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa.
“We now have misplaced a trailblazing inventive expertise who fearlessly introduced consciousness of South Africa below apartheid to a world viewers utilizing the theatre as a platform. Mbongeni was one among South Africa’s most interesting multi-talented creatives – a author, lyricist, composer, director, choreographer and theatre producer. He has left an indelible mark on South African theatre and the inventive industries as an entire,” Singh mentioned in an announcement despatched to Selection.
“Mbongeni and I grew to become pals 36 years in the past once we met on the Market Theatre. I used to be awestruck by the present, his creativity and his expertise. [‘Sarafina!’] was a spellbinding story of freedom. However what many overlook is that the inspiration went all the best way again to Nelson Mandela. The story of ‘Sarafina!’ is a celebration of the day Mandela was launched – a considerably outlandish notion for 1987, when the person himself was in jail for all times and with photos of and articles about him nonetheless banned. Mbongeni had crafted the musical with immense care and ingenious creativity. The apparent influences had been each Nelson and Winnie Mandela, and certainly a part of the message was concerning the power of Winnie and younger girls typically, which grew to become a central theme of ‘Sarafina!’.”
The Gauteng Social Growth Division mentioned Thursday that it had posthumously granted Ngema its 365 Males’s Award for being a constructive function mannequin and acknowledged his transformation from an abuser of ladies to a girls’s rights activist.
“He joins the likes of the late Patrick Shai who’re males within the public area who got here out and used their celeb standing to repent and discuss their contribution in the direction of GBV (gender-based violence) and the abuse they inflicted on girls. Looking for to make use of their story and classes to show others to not commit the identical ills they did. Guaranteeing that we promote constructive masculinity,” the group mentioned.
