Mbongeni Ngema (10 May 1955 – 27 December 2023) was a South African playwright, lyricist, composer, director, choreographer and theatre producer, best known for co-writing the 1981 play Woza Albert! and co-writing (with Hugh Masekela) the 1987 musical Sarafina!. He was known for plays that reflected the spirit of black South Africans under apartheid, and won much praise for his work, but was also the subject of several controversies. He died in a car accident on 27 December 2023.

Early life and education

Mbongeni Ngema was born on 10 May 1955 in Verulam, Natal (near Durban), the third of seven children of Gladys Hadebe and Zwelikhethabantu Ngema. Zwelikhethabantu was a policeman who had been born in the village of eNhlwathi, in kwaHlabisa, outside Mtubatuba, and was stationed at Verulam. This was a predominantly Indian area, but there were many Black residents too. After the 1950 Group Areas Act, Verulam was reclassified for Indians only, so black Africans were relocated, including the policeman's children, to kwaHlabisa, to live with their grandfather. There Mbongeni and his siblings lived a rural life, getting up early to tend to the animals before school, which he attended until Standard Six. and the multi-award-winning musical Sarafina! (premiered 1988). He wrote about and was known for his representation of the spirit of Black South Africans under the apartheid regime.

After founding his own theatre company, Committed Artists, Ngema trained young men who had no experience in acting. with an upcoming 2024 production in South Africa at the National Arts Festival. A film of the musical was released in 2017, co-written, directed by Ngema, in which he starred as Comrade Washington.

Sarafina! (1988), set in the Soweto uprising of 1976,

In 1998, Ngema was inducted into the New York "Walk of Fame" in front of the Lucille Lortel Theatre in Manhattan, New York City,

Lion of the East was commissioned by Mpumalanga Province in 2009 to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Potato Strike which took place in Bethal in the former Eastern Transvaal, led by Gert Sibande.

In 2013, his play The Zulu received standing ovations at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown (Makhanda). co-writing the backing vocals. and a single, "Sophia" in the same year.

  • 1988: Tony Award – Sarafina! received five nominations: Best Choreography, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Original Score, Best Actress in a Musical
  • 1988: Grammy Award – Sarafina! nominated for a Grammy Award at 32nd Annual Grammy Awards
  • 1987/8: NAACP Image Award, Best Stage Actress, for Khumalo in Sarafina!, and 10 other NAACP Awards
  • 1996: FNB-Vita Award for Best Supporting Actor, in a production of Asinamali at The Playhouse, Durban
  • 2008: Living Legend Award from the EThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, Durban
  • 2013: Awarded honorary doctorate by the University of Zululand
  • 2014: Awarded Lifetime Achievement Award at the Naledi Theatre Awards ceremony.
  • 2018: SAMA Lifetime Achievement Award
  • 2020: honorary doctorate, Good Shepherd College of Religion, Culture, and Skills Training
  • 2023: 365 Men's Award, posthumously awarded by Gauteng Social Development Department, to acknowledge his "transformation from an abuser of women to speaking out against gender-based violence"

Selected productions

Ngema's productions, many of which are available on recording platforms and CDs, include:

  • The House of Shaka (2006)
  • 1906 Bhambada The Freedom Fighter was one of his biggest hits in South Africa. The song was re-released on the 2002 album Jive Madlokovu!!! (2002), along with a music video featuring dancing by a large group of Zulu dancers.

In 2004, to celebrate 10 years of the new South Africa, he released Libuyile ("Songs of Freedom"). He had heard her when she was working on a play at the South African State Theatre, and decided to mentor her. After they divorced, Nduneni-Ngema published a memoir in which she accused him of abuse, During the marriage, he had a long-running affair with actress Leleti Khumalo, starting when she was still a teenager. He remained married, with Nduneni-Ngema acting as his business partner during the making of the film of Sarafina, in which Khumalo starred. After the film's release in October 1992, the couple divorced, and he married Khumalo.

Khumalo was 15 years younger than Ngema. They divorced in 2005 after she left him. She later called her marriage "disgusting", saying that she was not allowed any freedom and had "fourteen years of misery".

Death and legacy

Ngema died in a head-on car collision on 27 December 2023, while returning from a funeral in Lusikisiki, Eastern Cape; he was a passenger. Ngema was 68 at the time of his death. Actress Sophie Ndaba posted a tribute to him on Instagram.

Ngema was buried on 5 January 2024.

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Controversies

In 1996, the planned 12-month run of Sarafina II was cancelled due to corruption allegations, which implicated Ngema as well as the Minister of Health Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. The play had been commissioned by the new post-apartheid government at a cost of (), which the Public Protector, South Africa's anti-corruption watchdog, investigated. It found that the health department's funding was an "unauthorised expenditure", and its messaging about the HIV/AIDS epidemic was unsatisfactory.

In 2002 Ngema composed a song called "AmaNdiya", which was critical of how the Indian people of KwaZulu Natal were treating its employees and paying them a pittance. This song was banned from public broadcast by the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa, after the SA Human Rights Commission lodged a complaint. The judgment said that the song "promoted hate in sweeping, emotive language against Indians as a race", and incited fear among Indians for their safety. Many people criticised the song and there was even a motion in parliament by ANC MP Alfred Maphalala to demand an apology. Nelson Mandela also called on Ngema to apologise for the lyrics.

In July 2019, Ngema was removed from his position as co-director of a production of Sarafina following allegations of sexual harassment and intimidation by a cast member.

Footnotes

References

  • Mbongeni Ngema at Mail & Guardian