Mbongeni Ngema: A Revolutionary Force in the Arts

Mbongeni Ngema: A Revolutionary Force in the Arts

“When I grew up, all I wanted to be was a musician … I always wanted to be on stage performing for people, but my [parents] did not know that performance can actually be a career.” – Mbongeni Ngema

Mbongeni Ngema was born on 10 May 1955, in Verulam, north of Durban, and became a well renowned African playwright, composer, choreographer, and theatrical director. He became known largely for plays that reflected the spirit of black South Africans under apartheid.

Madlokovu, Ngema’s clan name, an ethnic Zulu, worked as a manual labourer and guitarist before he began acting in local theatre groups in the late 1970s. With actor Percy Mtwa he wrote the satirical play “Woza Albert” (in 1981), which imagined the second coming of Jesus Christ taking place in South Africa. The apartheid government first tried to exploit him (Jesus) and then banished him to a notorious prison for Africans.

Ngema’s next show, the musical “Asinamali” (1983), which dealt with police violence, forced separations from families and constricting racist laws as experienced by five prisoners. Soon after the play opened, police raided a performance and arrested Ngema’s actors. Despite its serious theme, “Asinamali” was filled with music and comedy.

The success of both productions in the United States paved the way for Ngema’s international triumph with the musical “Sarafina” in 1987, with a title character being a black teenager, who at first wanted to become a superstar. Instead, inspired by a teacher, she becomes a revolutionary in the 1976 student uprisings in Soweto. Madlokovu and Bra Hugh Masekela wrote the score, which featured “Mbaqanga”, the fusion of traditional South African music with modern American gospel, jazz and rock.

What inspired Sarafina is incredible. According to Mbongeni, “I was sitting with Mama Winnie Mandela and I started thinking, ‘this country is in flames,’ so I asked a question, I said, ‘Mama, what do you think is finally going to happen to this country?’” Mama looked at me and she said, ‘I wish I had a big blanket to cover the faces of the little ones so they do not see that bitter end.’” Sarafina was born. The play gained international success and in 1992, was adapted into a Hollywood film starring acclaimed Whoopi Goldberg and Leleti Khumalo.

Mbongeni continued to write a number of other plays, including “Township Fever”, “Mama! The Musical of Freedom”, “The House of Shaka”, and music compositions, most especially his timeless, “Isitimela saseZola”. Ngema’s creative work and music continues to inspire generations and those yet to come. In his life’s work, Madlokovu not only entertained but challenged societal norms, leaving an enduring legacy as a revolutionary force in the arts.

Sources:
Wikipedia.
Cardova, “The Story Behind Sarafina!”, The Insider SA, 26 July 2022.
Joseph Omoniyi, “Mbongeni Ngema: Remembering a Revolutionary Force in South African Theatre”, Bold & Beautiful, 29 December 2023.
John Litweiler, “Mbongeni Ngema: South African Playwright, Composer, Choreographer and Director”, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 19 August 2025.

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