‘Her music was loud and brave’ – South Africa reacts to Zahara’s death

Mzansi’s hearts are bleeding once again as they woke up to the sad news of multi-award winning musician Bulelwa “Zahara” Mkutukana’s passing on Monday evening.

While her family hasn’t issued a statement about her passing yet, both Sports, Arts and Culture minister Zizi Kodwa and American South African radio and television personality Jennifer Su confirmed the news on social media.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, just before midnight on Monday evening, Kodwa announced the heartbreaking news.

“I am very saddened by the passing of @ZaharaSA. My deepest condolences to the Mkutukana family and the South African music industry. Government has been with the family for some time now. Zahara and her guitar made an incredible and lasting impact in South African music.”

Su took to her Instagram account in the early hours of Tuesday morning to pay tribute to Zahara.

“RIP Zahara… one of South Africa’s most prolific singer-songwriters has died at 35 from liver complications. I have known Zahara since 2011, when she first released “Loliwe” (those are the photos I took from the SAMAs in 2011) and have followed her journey through her 17 South African Music Awards and worldwide acclaim. Rest well with the angels, you will be missed so much,” she captioned her post.

South African singer and songwriter Lady Zamar also took to social media to share her condolences with Zahara’s fans and family.

“Zahara did a lot for the music industry in South Africa…paved the way for so many others with her icon presence and guitar in hand. She will be missed. I never knew her personally, but her music was loud and brave. #ripzahara Praying for her family – she was loved.”

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