Washington Sixolo ( – June 4, 2017), also credited as Washington Xisolo, was a South African film and television actor best known to audiences for his role of Jwara on the long-running SABC 1

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

, '' Emzini Wezinsizwa''. He also co-starred as Bhebhe in the 1986 miniseries, '' Shaka Zulu'', as well as several international films, including ''

Ernest Goes to Africa ''Ernest Goes to Africa'' is a 1997 American direct to video comedy film written and directed by John Cherry. It stars Jim Varney, and is the ninth film to feature the character of Ernest P. Worrell. In this film, Deacon County, Ohio resident E ...

'' (1997) and '' Who Am I?'' (1998), opposite

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

Personal life

Sixolo was born in Springs on the

East Rand The East Rand is the urban eastern part of the Witwatersrand that is functionally merged with the Johannesburg conurbation in South Africa. The region extends from Alberton in the west to Nigel in the east, and south down to Nigel. It includes ...

, South Africa. He began his professional acting career during the late 1970s. Sixolo was also a founding member of the renowned Kings Messengers Quartet.

Kings Messengers Quartet

Together with three

adventist Adventism is a branch of Protestant Christianity that believes in the imminent Second Coming (or the "Second Advent") of Jesus Christ. It originated in the 1830s in the United States during the Second Great Awakening when Baptist preacher Wil ...

friends; Justice Masinga, Alex Maseko and Joseph Mhlanga, he began this exceptional quartet who was great in the sixties and seventies. Beginning at Bethel College,

Butterworth Butterworth may refer to: Places * Butterworth (ancient township), a former township centred on Milnrow, in the then Parish of Rochdale, England, United Kingdom * Butterworth, Eastern Cape, now also known as Gcuwa, a town located in South Africa ...

in the former

Transkei Transkei (, meaning ''the area beyond he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei ( xh, iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Ban ...

in the early fifties, Washington Sixolo was the main reason why the Kings Messengers earned great recognition in South Africa and abroad. When hearing the Kings Messengers

Quartet In music, a quartet or quartette (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers; or a musical composition for four voices and instruments. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations o ...

sing "No Disappointment in Heaven", former

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

n president Kenneth Kaunda could not resist hearing them in person. He arranged a full paid trip for this world class quartet to sing for him in his presidential suite and elsewhere in Zambia. Sixolo, still part of the quartet took three new members; Norman Dube (1st

Tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

), Mike Thlokoane (2nd Tenor) and Gift Makapela (

Baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

) with him to sing for Kaunda in 1970. Sixolo sang up to the mid seventies for the Kings Messengers before joining the SABC on a fulltime basis. The members of the Kings Messengers Quartet in order of appearances were Alex Maseko (1st tenor), Justice Masinga (2nd tenor), Joseph Mhlanga (baritone), Washington Sixolo (bass), Moses Khumalo (1st tenor), Billy Mahlalela (baritone), Norman Dube (1st tenor), Palmer Paul Kote (2nd tenor), Gift Makapela (baritone), Mike Thlokoane (2nd tenor), Stephen Motha (baritone), Vincent Mvelase (2nd tenor), Zolani Sixolo (1st tenor) and Samson Phakhati (

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

). The name Kings Messengers was coined by Moses Khumalo after they were only known as "The quartet" for a while. Sixolo appeared on 7 of the 8 albums the Kings Messengers made over the years. Only on 1 Kings Messengers album in 1983 Sixolo did not feature. Gift Makapela who toured with Sixolo to Zambia to sing for Kaunda was the leader on this album who was the last Kings Messengers album of all time. Albums that the Kings Messengers made are: ''Soul of Africa'', ''Precious Moments with the Kings Messengers Quartet'', ''More Songs with the Kings Messengers Quartet'', ''The Best of the Kings Messengers Quartet'', ''Spiritual Revival'', ''Lead Kindly Light'' and ''It's Not an Easy Road''.

Death

Sixolo, who suffered from several illnesses, became seriously ill on June 3, 2017, while at his home in

Orlando West Orlando is a township in the urban area of Soweto, South Africa. The township was founded in 1931 and named after Edwin Orlando Leake, Mayor of Johannesburg from 1925 to 1926. It is divided in two main areas: Orlando West and Orlando East. Histor ...

Soweto Soweto () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a s ...

. He was taken to Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, where he died on June 4, 2017, at the age of 83.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sixolo, Washington 1930s births 2017 deaths South African male film actors South African male television actors Actors from Soweto 20th-century South African male actors