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AT THE PASSING AWAY OF DOLLY RATHEBE
17 September 2004

Dr Z. Pallo Jordan, Minister of Arts and Culture joins the music fraternity and the people of South Africa in expressing his condolences to family, friends and fans on the passing away of the legend Dolly Rathebe.

Known to many of her generation as "sis Dolly," Rathebe, was part of the golden era of South African music and captured the imagination of the media and the people of South Africa, from the time she started recording in the 1950's to the present day.

Along with Colin More, James Mtsweni, Jakob Rampa, (who were known as the "Inkspots"), she developed a uniquely honed vocal style, which has left a rich heritage of a distinctive strain of an "African jazz" idiom.

Very glamorous she and her cohorts were too. She was also in the Skylarks, but in the early days it was her looks that attracted attention, which she did not always welcome. She once related a story that in the 1950s, township tsotsis kidnapped her and forced her to sing for them before they could release her.

She was also a muse to the famous Drum photographer Jurgen Schaderberg, who immortalised her beauty and radiance in photographs that help us appreciate the life that existed and was destroyed in Sophiatown.

Rathebe's famous songs were "Serantabole", "Unomeva," "Salt Lake City Blues", and "Nosizwe", among many. The first two at particular, were, in recent years, always requested in music festivals where she participated. Dolly went on to record numerous popular albums with Gallo records, with whom she had been recording since 1948.

Dolly grew up in Sophiatown, which she felt was an exciting place. She started her singing career at 19 and acted in films like "Jim Comes to Joburg," in the 1940s.

Since the Sophiatown period is packed with modern progressive urban culture and vibrant personalities, it is tempting to see it as one long party. It wasn't, since the crackdown of apartheid was severe, on all sections of society, including the entertainment industry.

When Dolly won the South African Music Association (SAMA) Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001 she said of those times: "I've been up and down and have suffered enough, but I told myself I would reach my goal. We were banned but we continued singing, I never gave up."

The likes of the Elite Swingsters, Dorothy Masuku, "big voice" Jack Lerole were her contemporaries. These friendships grew and in 2001 Miriam Makeba devoted a show in tribute to Dolly at the Civic Theatre. Critics have said that she "exuded a beautiful radiance," and the show at the civic featured a galaxy in the firmament of South African divas: Miriam Makeba, Abigail Kubheka, Dorothy Masuku, Sophie Mgcina, Mara Louw, Thandie Klaasen, Letta Mbulu, and newer talent like PJ Powers, Yvonne Chaka Chaka et al. Miriam Makeba said that Dolly Rathebe was a role model for women in the 50s and 60s, at a time when many black women were invisible in society, except as nannies or cleaners. She was out there living life to the full and many women, Makeba has said, looked up to Dolly.

Many regard her as one of the first female African stars: She won a number of beauty contests but she backed this up with a recording and a film career that spanned many decades. She has acted in "The Magic Garden", "Song of Africa," and in the 1980s she appeared in "Mapantsula." She performed for international audiences worldwide; some of these places were: Italy, Sweden, Netherlands, Canada, and in1994, she sang at the Westminster Abbey in a ceremony attended by the Queen and Prince Charles to mark South Africa's re-entry into the Commonwealth.

Rathebe was 76 years old when she passed away on 16 September 2004. Dolly Rathebe put her all into mentoring others. Her generosity was so deep that when Miriam Makeba raised funds for her, Rathebe utilised much of these funds to build a multi purpose community centre, "Meriting wa Dolly" (Dolly's Retreat) in Sofasonke, a village in Klipgat north of Pretoria. Her other attribute is strength of spirit, which she maintained to her last days. She and other African musicians rose phenomenally despite the dehumanising social conditions imposed by apartheid. In her words: "we were trampled over but we always rose with our heads up, and here we are having the last laugh." South Africa has lost one of her most talented artists. We dip our banners in homage.

For more information please contact: Andile Xaba
Cell: 082 377 6627
Premi Appalraju
Cell: 082 375 2939
Mack Lewele
Cell: 082 450 5076

Issued by: Department of Arts and Culture
17 September 2004