{"id":40840,"date":"2023-12-28T08:26:03","date_gmt":"2023-12-28T08:26:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/sarafina-creator-mbongeni-ngema-dies-in-car-crash\/"},"modified":"2023-12-28T08:26:03","modified_gmt":"2023-12-28T08:26:03","slug":"sarafina-creator-mbongeni-ngema-dies-in-car-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/sarafina-creator-mbongeni-ngema-dies-in-car-crash\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Sarafina!’ creator Mbongeni Ngema dies in car crash"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mbongeni Ngema, writer of the acclaimed musical \u2018Sarafina\u2019<\/em> about student riots in apartheid Soweto, was killed in a car crash on Wednesday at the age of 68, his family announced.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Watch ARY News live on\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>live.arynews.tv<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Ngema died just as the 1992 movie, developed with legendary jazz musician Hugh Masekela, was making a return with a screening at this year\u2019s Cannes Film Festival classic section and a streaming release.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is with heavy hearts that we announce the sudden passing of our beloved brother, father, husband and a patriot, Mbongeni Ngema,\u201d the family said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cNgema was killed in a head-on car accident whilst returning from attending a funeral,\u201d in Eastern Cape province, the statement added. He was a passenger in the vehicle.<\/p>\n

\u2018Sarafina\u2019<\/em> made Ngema a pan-African music star. A stage version had earlier played on New York\u2019s Broadway for two years. It was nominated for Tony and Grammy awards.<\/p>\n

The film starred Leleti Khumalo, who had been in the stage version and later married Ngema, and Whoopi Goldberg.<\/p>\n

Ngema also co-wrote the 1981 play \u2018Woza Albert\u2019<\/em> with Percy Mtwa and Barney Simon. A satirical look at the plight of black people in white-dominated South Africa, the play toured Europe and North America.<\/p>\n

His works \u2018reflected the spirit of resistance\u2019 during the \u2018apartheid and liberation struggle\u2019, the family said.<\/p>\n

Ngema was also an actor, choreographer, composer and singer. His hit songs included \u2018Stimela sa se Zola\u2019<\/em>, also made with Masekela.<\/p>\n

In 2020 one of Ngema\u2019s ex-wives alleged in a book that he had sexually abused her.<\/p>\n

\u2018Call of Duty\u2019 star Kamar de los Reyes dies at 56<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n