Legendary South African actor Joe Mafela popularly known as S’dumo has died on the on Saturday the 18th of March. He was involved in an accident along the M1 North in Johannesburg. Joe was an actor, film producer, singer and all around creative. He was born in the year 1942 in Sibasa, Limpopo Province.
Mafela’s illustrious career began in 1964 when he was 22 years old with a part in a film ‘Real News’ directed by Peter Hunt ( who also directed the James Bond Film, “From Russia with Love”). This was the first step towards a very successful career marked by awards and perfect roles. He then shot to fame after co-starring on ‘Udeliwe’ which was a hit in the Soweto cinemas in 1974. In this first black feature film, Joe starred as Peter Pleasure a Malawian and he was so good in this role that young man started to copy and mimic his lines.
In the 1980s Joe’s television career took off with a role in Sgud ‘Snaysi, a sitcom spotlighting black South Africans. Mafela starred in the show as the hilarious S’dumo. This role propelled him to stardom as one of the few black stars in apartheid South Africa. The show ran for 78 episodes as it was a major hit in black television. After creating a good working relationship with SABC, Joe advertised with them as he was now a Creative Director at BBDO. He mainly focused on voice-overs, radio material and conceptualising.
Joe also created a relationship with the Director of Penguin Films Roberta Durrant and he joined the firm as a creative director and he also proceeded to co-own it till the time of his death, co-producing a lot of material for it. Mafela was also a musical genius releasing one of the best songs in South African history, Shebeleza (Congo Mame), which was used as the theme song for the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations. Shebeleza since then with Mbube groups producing their own versions of it.
Joe won a few accolades for his brilliant work including the 2015 Comic Choice Awards presented by Savanna. Joe was working on a role in Generations the Legacy of late, starring as Uncle Tebogo Moroka. He is on of the greatest creatives in black South African history. A pioneer of black television, creating an environment for black actors to flourish. At 75, Joe Mafela was still a beacon and he will forever remain that way.
May his soul rest in eternal peace.
