Multi-award-winning Afro Pop star Bulelwa “Zahara” Mkututana has died

Written By: Tasha Siziba

Hailing from a small village of Phumlani in East London, multi-award-winning AfroPop star Bulelwa “Zahara” Mkututana died on Monday at the age of 36.

Zahara’s family announced on social media two weeks ago that the 35-year-old singer had been brought into hospital due to “physical pains” and that medical professionals had been attending to her.

Zahara has established herself as a very gifted vocalist and guitarist since her 2011 album Loliwe, which catapulted her to prominence. Her music has had an impact outside of South Africa.

She sings a historical song, Loliwe. It draws attention to the means of passenger transportation used to move the working class from labor reserves to the factories and mines.

The lyrics of her song “Imali” contain several passages that accurately describe our current state of affairs. These include the fact that many political killings are driven by the desire for power and money, as are killings committed during robberies and wars that are sparked by imperialism.

South African music lovers and fellow artists also took to social media to express their deepest empathy.

She expresses in Phendula the aspirations of the working class, who want an end to their impoverished circumstances. The capitalist method of production and capitalist social relations, which perpetuate crises of unemployment, poverty, inequality, crime, and war, are the fundamental causes of all the issues she addresses in her songs.

The Mkutukana family said, Zahara left no sorrow, only stories of healing, joy, kindness, and inspiration through her life and her music.