Mbongeni Ngema was a South African playwright, composer, and activist whose 1988 musical, “Sarafina!” took aim at apartheid.
- Died: December 27, 2023 (Who else died on December 27?)
- Details of death: Died in Lusikisiki, South Africa, in a car accident at the age of 68.
- We invite you to share condolences for Mbongeni Ngema in our Guest Book.
Mbongeni Ngema’s legacy
Ngema grew up under the thumb of South African apartheid, his family pushed out of their neighborhood and forced to relocate. As an adult, he later moved to Johannesburg where he played guitar and composed music while working in a factory. Eventually, he began to write his own material. He co-wrote the 1981 political comedy/drama, “Woza Albert!” with Percy Mtwa, which earned him accolades and toured the United States in 1984.
His best-known work came in 1988 with “Sarafina!” a musical by Ngema and Hugh Masekela that chronicled the Soweto uprising, a 1976 student uprising in opposition to apartheid. The show ran for nearly 600 performances on Broadway, earning actress Leleti Khumalo a Tony Award nomination, along with Tony nominations for Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Choreography, and Best Direction of a Musical. The show also won 11 NAACP Image Awards.
In 2019, he was removed from his position as co-director of a production of “Sarafina!” after allegations that he sexually harassed a cast member, one of several such allegations made against him.
Ngema wrote, co-wrote, or composed nearly a dozen other works over the course of his career. He was a vocal arranger for the music on Disney’s 1994 version of “The Lion King,” created “Sarafina II” to address the AIDS epidemic in Africa, and did cinematic music arrangements, including for the 1989 film “Sing.” Ngema was nominated for two Grammy Awards, won Lifetime Achievement Awards at the Simon Mabhunu Sabela Film and Television Awards, Naledi Theatre Awards, and others, and he was granted several honorary doctorates.
Tributes to Mbongeni Ngema
Full obituary: The Washington Post
