Dolly Rathebe ( OIS) (2 April 1928 – 16 September 2004) was a South African musician and actress who performed with the Elite Swingsters jazz band, and in Alf Herbert's ''African Jazz and Variety Show''. Rathebe died on 16 September 2004 from a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

Music career

Rathebe was born in

Randfontein Randfontein is a gold mining town in the West Rand, Gauteng, South Africa, west of Johannesburg. With the Witwatersrand gold rush in full swing, mining financier JB Robinson bought the farm Randfontein and, in 1889, floated the Randfontein Est ...

, South Africa but grew up in

Sophiatown Sophiatown , also known as Sof'town or Kofifi, is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. Sophiatown was a black cultural hub that was destroyed under apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "apart ...

, which she describes as having been "a wonderful place". She was discovered around 1948 after singing at a picnic in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

. A talent scout from

Gallo Gallo may refer to: *Related to Gaul: ** Gallo-Roman culture **Gallo language, a regional language of France **Gallo-Romance, a branch of Romance languages **Gallo-Italic or Gallo-Italian language, a branch spoken in Northern Italy of the Romance ...

approached her and it was not long before she became a star. Rathebe rose to fame in 1949, aged 21, when she appeared as a

nightclub singer A nightclub act is a production, usually of nightclub music or comedy, designed for performance at a nightclub, a type of drinking establishment, by a nightclub performer such as a nightclub singer or nightclub dancer, whose performance may ...

in the British-produced movie '' Jim Comes To Jo'burg'' - the first film to portray urban Africans in a positive light. During a photo-shoot for ''

Drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

'' magazine at a mine dump, Rathebe and the white photographer,

Jürgen Schadeberg Jürgen Schadeberg (18 March 1931Jürgen Schadeberg
South African History Online2 ...

, were arrested under the

Immorality Act Immorality Act was the title of two acts of the Parliament of South Africa which prohibited, amongst other things, sexual relations between white people and people of other races. The first Immorality Act, of 1927, prohibited sex between whites an ...

, which forbade interracial relationships. When Alf Herbert's African Jazz and Variety show opened in 1954, Rathebe appeared and stayed as Herbert's main attraction for many years. She became an international star when she sang with the Afro jazz group, the Elite Swingsters, in 1964. After Sophiatown was flattened by the

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

government in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Rathebe found it more and more difficult to perform, especially after an 8pm

curfew A curfew is a government order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to ''not'' be in public places or on roads within a certain time frame, typically in the evening and ...

was imposed. She moved with her family to

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

and, to survive, ran a

shebeen A shebeen ( ga, síbín) was originally an illicit bar or club where excisable alcoholic beverages were sold without a licence. The term has spread far from its origins in Ireland, to Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Zimbabwe, the En ...

for many years. In 1989, Rathebe re-united with the Elite Swingsters to perform in a film that was set in 1950s Johannesburg. The group stayed together, issuing a new album, ''Woza'', in 1991. This was followed by two more albums, ''A Call for Peace'' (1995) and ''Siya Gida/We Dance'' (1997). In 2001, Rathebe received the

Lifetime Achievement Award Lifetime achievement awards are awarded by various organizations, to recognize contributions over the whole of a career, rather than or in addition to single contributions. Such awards, and organizations presenting them, include: A * A.C. ...

at the

South African Music Awards The South African Music Awards (often simply the SAMAs) are the Recording Industry of South Africa's music industry awards, established in 1995. The ceremony is held annually, usually in late April or May, with the judging process starting in N ...

. In 2003, at the age of 75, Rathebe appeared in a Johannesburg show ''Sof'Town, A Celebration!'', where she sang "Randfontein", the story of a drunk miner returning home to find his wife in bed with another man, who is then beaten and chased out.

Community work

In her latter years Rathebe was a leading light in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

's Ikageng Women's League. She funded the construction of a multi-purpose hall at Sofasonke village near Klipgat, north of Pretoria. The hall is named "Meriting kwaDolly", which means "Dolly's Retreat". In 2004, Rathebe was awarded the South African

Order of Ikhamanga The Order of Ikhamanga is a South African honour. It was instituted on 30 November 2003 and is granted by the President of South Africa for achievements in arts, culture, literature, music, journalism, and sports (which were initially recognised b ...

in Silver for her "excellent contribution to music and the performing arts and commitment to the ideals of justice, freedom and democracy".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rathebe, Dolly 1928 births 2004 deaths South African film actresses 20th-century South African women singers People from Randfontein 20th-century South African actresses Recipients of the Order of Ikhamanga