Miriam Makeba, the South African singing star whose career took off in the 1950s and who famously appeared at the United Nations to condemn apartheid, has died suddenly after a concert in Italy. She was 76.
Makeba, widely known as Mama Afrika, collapsed on Sunday as she was leaving the stage in the town of Castel Volturno, near Naples, according to a statement issued on Monday by South African foreign minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma. "She received paramedic assistance and was rushed to hospital where she unfortunately passed way," Dlamini Zuma said.
News agencies reported that she appeared at a concert to support an Italian journalist being threatened by the local mafia. In September, six African immigrants were killed in the town when gunmen from the mafia sprayed a group of immigrants with gunfire in an alleged drug-dealing dispute.
Dlamini Zuma paid tribute to Makeba as "one of the greatest songstresses of our time... Throughout her life, Mama Makeba communicated a positive message to the world about the struggle of the people of South Africa and the certainty of victory over the dark forces of apartheid colonialism through the art of song."
Makeba has been described as Africa's first superstar. She first rose to fame professionally with the Manhattan Brothers in the early 1950s, and subsequently travelled abroad to perform the lead female role in the musical, King Kong. She was promoted by Harry Belafonte in the United States, becoming best known to general audiences for her hits "Pata Pata," "The Click Song" (Qongqothwane) and "Malaika."
She was at one stage married to Stokely Carmichael and lived for some years in Guinea. She was stripped of her South African citizenship after becoming an anti-apartheid icon and returned home only after the release of Nelson Mandela from prison.
In recent years, she has been a "goodwill ambassador" for South Africa and for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. In March this year, she highlighted the plight of woman victims of sexual violence during a visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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