Renowned South African playwright, producer and composer Mbongeni Ngema has died in a car crash at the age of 68, his family said.
Renowned South African playwright, producer and composer Mbongeni Ngema has died in a car crash at the age of 68, his family said.
“Ngema was killed in a head-on car accident while returning from a funeral he was attending in Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape this evening,” his family said in a statement Wednesday. The celebrated playwright was a passenger in the vehicle involved in the crash.
He was best known for creating the hit Sarafina! which first premiered on Broadway in 1988. It was adapted into a musical drama starring Whoopi Goldberg in 1992, becoming an international success and was nominated for the Tony and Grammy Awards.
Sarafina! told the story of a young student and how she inspired her peers to fight against racial segregation in apartheid South Africa after her teacher was thrown in jail.
