Ma Dorothy’s voice falls silent

“Her music was the soundtrack of some of our most joyful moments, the light of our souls during our darkest hours.”

Those were the poignant words of arts and culture minister Nathi Mthethwa following the death of renowned jazz singer Dorothy Masuka.

News of the 83-year-old’s death was confirmed late on Saturday by her family.

“She was in the comfort of her home, surrounded by her children and grandchildren,” family spokesperson Fortune Hute said.

Masuka had been suffering from complications related to hypertension, after having a mild stroke in 2018.

One of the MaGumede hitmaker’s last stage performances was at Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s funeral in 2018.

In the wake of the news, fans poured onto Twitter to share images and memories of the star.

Some remembered the impact her music had on their lives, while others said she was finally reunited with her old friends Dolly Rathebe and Miriam Makeba.

Mthethwa said Ma Dorothy’s music lit up many souls in their darkest hours.

“A baobab tree has fallen with the passing of a one-of-akind musician, the legendary Mama Dorothy Masuka.

“Her music was the soundtrack of some of our most joyful moments, the light of our souls during our darkest hours.

“Lala ngoxolo Mama wethu [rest in peace our mother],” he wrote.

Masuka was born in 1935 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Her parents emigrated to SA when she was 12.

According to an article in The Sowetan in 2013, despite her parents’ disapproval, Masuka dropped out of school at 16 to pursue her dream of becoming a professional singer.

She signed a deal to record with Troubadour and after a spell with the African Ink Spots she left for Zimbabwe to join the Golden Rhythm Crooners.

But she was soon on her way back to Johannesburg and in the train she penned Hamba Hamba Nontsokolo (loosely meaning “go, go suffering”).

The song became a hit and one of the most popular songs in the 1950s. It is regarded as an African classic and is her signature tune to this day.

By 1953, when she was 18, Masuka was already a fully fledged professional musician and, along with Makeba and Hugh Masekela, she toured with Alf Herbert’s African Jazz and Variety show and the musical King Kong.

She also performed with The Harlem Swingsters in the mid-1950s and endeared herself to a wide audience with her provocative compositions that riled the apartheid regime.

In 1961, the Special Branch seized the master recordings of her composition Lumumba,

which paid tribute to Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the Congo.

But Masuka soon penned and recorded Dr Malan, a song about apartheid’s laws. The song was banned.

Masuka went into exile and in Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and the UK campaigned for the liberation of SA through her music, writing and performing her most memorable tunes Pata Pata, Khawuleza and Into Yam.

Many of her songs were recorded by artists like Makeba.

Masuka was a recipient of the Order of Ikhamanga Silver from the SA government.

She was also inducted into the Hall of Fame in the US in 2002. 

Additional reporting The Sowetan