Babsy Mlangeni was 83 when a short illness took him, and the songs he leaves behind are, in the words of those who knew his work, impossible to forget and impossible to imitate. Media reports confirmed his death, and the loss reaches far beyond his own family to the many South African music lovers whose memories are threaded through his catalogue.
For the family, the grief is personal. It was to them that Mr Makhi Feni, Chairperson of the Select Committee on Education, Sciences and the Creative Industries, first turned with words of comfort. Speaking on behalf of the committee, he said it was with a heavy heart that it sent heartfelt condolences, not only to the family, friends and relatives, but to the music industry as a whole. To the bereaved, the committee offered a single, tender word: thuthuzelekani, a call to comfort one another.
Mr Feni urged the country to look past grief and toward celebration. “Babsy Mlangeni is a legend, and we should celebrate that he lived among us and, importantly, that he was South African,” he said. “He has left us a treasure that we can return to at any moment. His songs are timeless classics through which his legacy will live on for his grandchildren.”
Meanwhile, in remembering the man, Mr Feni placed him firmly within a generation of artists whose music carried the weight of a divided country. “We can only celebrate the life of a legend whose distinct voice remains in the minds of many South African music lovers,” he said. “Babsy was our very own Stevie Wonder and a proud artist who never let disability determine his destiny.”
That generation, he noted, included figures such as Lazarus Kgakgudi and Steve Kekana, among many others, who dominated the music scene of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. The era coincided with the height of apartheid, and these musicians, in Mr Feni’s words, were artists-cum-activists who used their music to expose what white people were doing in the country at the time. “Their ability to use cultural expression to portray the ills of apartheid-era South Africa will never be forgotten,” he said.
The full statement, issued through Parliament’s communication services, is available at https://www.parliament.gov.za/press-releases/media-statement-south-africa-must-celebrate-babsy-mlangeni-lived-among-us-committee-chairperson, where the tribute can be read in full.
What remains is the music itself: a body of work the committee describes as a treasure, one that family, friends and fans alike can return to whenever they wish. For Mlangeni’s grandchildren, and for the industry mourning him alongside his loved ones, those timeless classics are the legacy he leaves behind. Media enquiries may be directed to the committee’s Media Officer, Sibongile Maputi, by cell on 081 052 6060 or by email at [email protected].