Joe Mafela

about

Joe "Sdumo" Mafela (1942 - 18 March 2017) was a South African actor, writer, producer, director, singer and businessman. In 1996, Gallo Records released the album Shebeleza Fela, with the popular hit "Shebeleza (Okongo Mame)". It was a huge success, and "Shebeleza" was a theme song during the Africa Cup of Nations in 1996. Since then, Mafela has recorded and released several other albums of Zulu-language songs. Born in Sibasa, Transvaal, South Africa, Mafela was brought up in Kliptown and White City Jabavu, in Soweto, near Johannesburg, and then his family remained until 1990 in the Tshiawelo Township that had been set aside for Venda people under Apartheid. He began acting in movies at age 22, playing the role of an editor in the movie, Real News. He joined the South African film company SA Films, and over the following twenty years he worked as a producer and director as well as a film actor. He also managed the multi-ethnic dance troupes Mzumba, Sangoma, and the Gold Reef Dancers, which performed in feature films, theaters, and hotels and appeared on four continents. In 1974 Mafela co-starred in the first all-black movie made in South Africa, as Peter Pleasure in Udeliwe. He worked with director Peter R. Hunt (famed for the James Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service) in the 1976 film Shout at the Devil. With the advent of television in South Africa in 1976, Mafela worked almost continuously in that medium. In 1986 he was cast as the unemployed lodger S'dumo in th

top songs

albums

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Shebeleza! Fela's

Shebeleza Felas

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The Essential Guide To South Africa

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South African Sound Offerings Volume 2

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Siyavaya Fela's

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Zulu Offerings from South Africa

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Out Of Africa

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Greatest Moments Of

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Kings of africa

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The Great South African Trip - Ukuhwelala

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No Easy Walk To Freedom

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From South Africa (Disk2 Of 2)

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