The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) joins the whole country in celebrating the life of Joe Mafela whose untimely passing has been widely reported. Mafela’s memorial service was held this week on the 23rd  of March 2017.
Mafela was a shining African talent. He was the first black male lead in the first South African feature film produced by a black person, titled uDeliwe. His comedy in the 80’s and 90’s did more than just provide light relief for masses of black people and their families during the darkest days of Apartheid, it also presented proudly, the normal day-to-day lives of working class South Africans. Mafela’s work allowed black South Africans an opportunity to see representations of themselves in numerous and often comedic situations.
Mafela, demonstrated his versatility as an entertainer by releasing a highly successful music album with the popular track, Shebeleza which was adopted as the official song of the Africa Cup of Nations in 1996. His contribution to that historic win for our national football team is indelibly inked in South Africa’s collective memory.
We wish to extend our heartfelt condolences to Mafela’s family, his friends and his numerous fans. Mafela, a working class entertainer and a luminous talent will be sorely missed by all of us.