South Africans gone to the ancestors
HHP (38). Hip-hop star, proponent of motswako rap; his hits included Harambe, Tswaka and Bosso. (Birth name Jabulani Tsambo; the HHP stood for Hip Hip Pantsula.)
Akhumzi Jezile (29). Youthful star on YOTV and actor in Tempy Pushas.
Keorapetse Kgositsile, widely known as Bra Willie (79). Writer, teacher and arts activist. South Africa’s poet laureate from 2006, he spent three decades in exile. In the United States, he published poetry, including Spirits Unchained (1969) and My Name Is Afrika (1971), performed his work as part of the Uptown Black Arts Movement, and co-founded the Black Arts Theatre in New York. He returned to South Africa in 1990; in the same year his collection When the Clouds Clear came out.
Winnie Madikizela-mandela (81). Icon of the struggle against apartheid. While her husband Nelson Mandela was in jail, from the early 1960s to 1990, she kept the flame burning, surviving arrests, banning and persecution. In the late 1980s she was involved with the thuggish “football club” that led to the death of child activist Stompie Seipei. Hugh Masekela (78). Jazz trumpeter and composer. As a youth, he was part of the 1950s Sophiatown cultural boom; later he was a leading performer based in the United States till his return from exile in 1990. Grazing in the Grass (1968) was a US hit; Bring
Him Back Home (1987) became an anthem about Nelson Mandela. His Stimela (1994) is almost another national anthem.
Chris Matshaba (39). Radio personality (Motsweding
FM, North West FM) and businessman.
Sandy Mokwena (68). Veteran
actor; known in his last years for his role as Bra Eddie in Scandal.
Mendi Msimang (89). Leading figure of the freedom struggle, though often behind the scenes. An ANC Youth League founder in the 1940s, he served the ANC in exile as an organiser, ambassador (India and later Britain) and co-founder of Solomon Mhlangu College; he served the ANC in power as treasurer general and later as chair of its integrity commission.
David Phetoe (85). Well-known actor; he played Paul Moroka in long-running TV series Generations.