Popular South African writer, lyricist, and theatre producer Mbongeni Ngema lost his life in a car accident on Wednesday, December 27, 2023.
He is known for writing the award-winning musical ‘Sarafina.’ A musical about student revolts in apartheid-era Soweto.
His family broke the news saying he passed on in a head-on collision while returning from a funeral in the Eastern Cape province.
The statement further read; “It is with a heavy heart that we announce the brutal death of our beloved brother, father, husband, and compatriot, Mbongeni Ngema.”
The 1987 musical, ‘Sarafina,’ was nominated five times at the 1988 Tony Awards and the 32nd Annual Grammy Awards.
The musical won 11 NAACP Image Awards and was later adapted into a feature film in 1992 starring Whoopi Goldberg, Leleti Khumalo, and Miriam Makeba.
Born in May 10, 1955 in Verulam, KwaZulu-Natal, Ngema was also an actor and singer known for plays that reflected the spirit of black South Africans under apartheid.
