Legendary singer Miriam Makeba, who died aged 76 on Sunday, simply wanted to leave a memory of being a ”very good old lady”, she once said.
Judged by the flood of tributes following her collapse after a performance in Italy on Sunday night, the woman fondly known as ”Mama Africa” will certainly be remembered for more than what she wished for.
”She was indeed a legend and an amazing talent and it was an honour and privilege to have worked with her on the film Sarafina!,” said filmmaker Anant Singh.
”We acknowledge the huge role she played in bringing global awareness to African music during the time she lived abroad and she will always be remembered as the mother of African music. Long live the spirit of Mama Africa.”
South Africa’s Foreign Ministry said Makeba died at the Veneto Verde Hospital near Naples after performing in Castel Volturno.
”One of the greatest songstresses of our time, Miriam Makeba, has ceased to sing. Miriam Makeba … died performing what she did best — an ability to communicate a positive message through the art of singing,” said South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
”Throughout her life, Mama Makeba communicated a positive message to the world about the struggle of the people of South Africa and the certainty of victory over the dark forces of apartheid colonialism through the art of song,” said Dlamini-Zuma.
Makeba, whose most famous hits included Pata Pata, The Click Song (Qongqothwane in Xhosa) and Mailaka, died after taking part in a concert for Roberto Saviano, a writer threatened with death by the Mafia, an Italian news agency reported.
”She collapsed as she was leaving the stage. She received paramedic assistance and was rushed to hospital where she unfortunately passed away,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
”On behalf of our President Kgalema Motlanthe, our ambassadors and high commissioners stationed abroad, management and staff of the Department of Foreign Affairs, we convey our heartfelt condolences to members of the bereaved family,” said Dlamini-Zuma.
Makeba sang about Africa’s struggles for independence.
”People gave me that name. At first I said to myself: ‘Why do they want to give me that responsibility, carrying a whole continent?’ Then I understood that they did that affectionately. So I accepted. I am Mama Africa,” she told Agence France-Presse in an interview in 2005.
The African National Congress in Gauteng paid tribute to her, with spokesperson Nkenke Kekana saying she was ”an inspiration to many, many activists during the dark days of apartheid”.
”She remains an icon of our struggle,” said Kekana.
KwaZulu-Natal arts and culture minister Weziwe Thusi said she was a ”beacon of hope for the oppressed masses of this country”.
United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader Bantu Holomisa said she was an example to the younger generation.
”The young generation can learn from the discipline and respect that Miriam Makeba embraced throughout her life. She was rated among the leading proponents of change in South Africa. We have lost a true role-model whose work will always be remembered,” said Holomisa.
Miriam Zenzi Makeba was born in Johannesburg on March 4 1932. As a child, she attended a training institute in Pretoria for eight years where she first started singing.
Her professional career kicked off in the 1950s with the Manhattan Brothers, before she formed her own group, The Skylarks.
She grabbed international attention in 1959 when she starred in the anti-apartheid documentary Come Back, Africa.
After that, she went to London where she met Harry Belafonte. He helped her get entry to the United States, where she released many of her famous songs.
She received a Grammy Award for Best Folk Recording in 1966 with Harry Belafonte for An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba. The album was about black South Africans living under apartheid.
When she tried to return to South Africa, she discovered that her passport had been revoked.
She testified against apartheid before the United Nations in 1963. She was married to musician Hugh Masekela and Trinidadian civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael, who was also the leader of the Black Panthers.
When her only daughter, Bongi Makeba, died in 1985, she moved to Brussels.
Former South African president Nelson Mandela persuaded her to return to South Africa in 1990.
She was always optimistic about post-apartheid South Africa, even though she acknowledged that it came with its own problems.
”We have only had 11 years of democracy but we are moving, we are moving forward faster than many countries who have been independent a long, long time before. We all have to do it together, all of us, found ourselves this country regardless [whether] we are black, white or whatever,” she said in the interview with AFP.
Asked who the next Makeba would be, she replied: ”No, nobody can replace me as I can’t replace anyone else,” said the singer, who added that she wanted to leave a memory of, simply, a ”very good old lady”. – AFP
