#Mbongeni Ngema, Renowned South African Playwright and Creator of ‘Sarafina!,’ Dies at 68

Renowned South African playwright, producer and composer Mbongeni Ngema has died in a car crash at the age of 68, his family said.

“Ngema was killed in a head-on car accident while returning from a funeral he was attending in Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape this evening,” his family said in a statement Wednesday. The celebrated playwright was a passenger in the vehicle involved in the crash.

He was best known for creating the hit Sarafina! which first premiered on Broadway in 1988. It was adapted into a musical drama starring Whoopi Goldberg in 1992, becoming an international success, and was nominated for the Tony and Grammy Awards.

Sarafina! told the story of a young student and how she inspired her peers to fight against racial segregation in apartheid South Africa after her teacher was thrown in jail.

Apartheid was an institutionalized system that discriminated against non-whites and ensured South Africa was ruled by the minority white population from 1948 till the early 1990s.

Ngema’s body of work included the lauded theatre production Woza Albert, which first showed in 1981 and went on to win more than 20 awards across the world. The political satire explored the second coming of Jesus Christ as a black man, returning to South Africa as a black man.

Tributes to the noted playwright have been pouring in.

“We have lost a trailblazing creative talent who fearlessly brought awareness of South Africa under apartheid to a global audience using the theatre as a platform,” well-known South African producer Anant Singh said in a statement. “Mbongeni was one of South Africa’s finest multi-talented creatives – a writer, lyricist, composer, director, choreographer and theater producer. He has left an indelible mark on South African theatre and the creative industries as a whole.”

Added Singh: “This is clearly demonstrated by the timelessness of Sarafina! the film, which is as relevant today as it was when it was first released, and it holds the distinction of being invited twice by the Cannes Film Festival to screen in its Official Selection – first in 1992 and then in May this year in the Cannes Classics section.”

Concluded the producer: “Mbongeni was an inspiration and mentored many young artists who are now household names. His passing leaves a deep void but he leaves a rich legacy that will endure for posterity.”

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa also praised the late Ngema in a statement. “The many productions he created or to which he contributed inspired resilience and pride among us as fellow South Africans and took South Africa and our continent into the theatres, homes and consciousness of millions of people around the world,” Ramaphosa said Thursday.

South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party and one of its biggest rivals, the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters both conveyed their condolences.

The ANC said in a statement: “He was a globally acclaimed playwright, composer and producer. We have lost a true legend, a doyen, and a genuine ambassador of theatre.”

The Leftist party described him as “more than just an artist; he was a cultural icon, and a beacon of hope during some of our darkest times”.

Zizi Kodwa, South African minister of sports, arts and culture Zizi Kodwa said in a tweet Negma’s loss was significant to the South African art scene adding that his work “touched and moved audiences around the world and made an important contribution in telling the South African story.”