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eventREF E-0149152Revised

Event record

Songwriter, film producer and actor Joe Mafela dies

Date
18 Mar 2017
Updated
30 Nov 2025
Songwriter, film producer and an actor, Joe Mafela dies

Songwriter, film producer and an actor, Joe Mafela dies

On 18 March 2017, legendary actor Joe Mafela passed away on his way home from Soweto, after he was involved in a car accident in Johannesburg. According to Edna Mamonyane, Metro police spokesperson, the accident occurred at around 10pm on the M1 North, a road between Oxford and Houghton Drive. Joe Mafela was born in  Sibasa, Limpopo in 1942. Mafela’ s acting career started in 1964, when he featured in a film  by Peter Hunt, ‘Real News’. His popularity increased after he starred in Zulu language sitcom, “Sgudi  ‘Snaysi”.In this film, he played the leading character, named ‘Sdumo’. Joe Mafela  worked as a producer in the South African film industry twenty years amongst other creative pursuits such as releasing his own album, “Shebeleza”. 

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How we know this

  1. 01Brand South Africa. (2017). Remembering Joe Mafela, South African actor 1942-2017 [online]. Available at: www.brandsouthafrica.com
  2. 02South African History Online. Songwriter, film producer and an actor, Joe Mafela dies [online]. Available at: www.sahistory.org.za
  3. 03SABC News. Joe Mafela Tribute. 19 March 2017

Last updated · 30 Nov 2025

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2019, August 23). Songwriter, film producer and actor Joe Mafela dies. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0149152

South African History Online (2019) 'Songwriter, film producer and actor Joe Mafela dies', South African History Online, 23 August. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0149152 (Accessed: 9 August 2026).

South African History Online, Songwriter, film producer and actor Joe Mafela dies [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0149152, (accessed 9 August 2026).

"Songwriter, film producer and actor Joe Mafela dies." South African History Online, 23 Aug. 2019, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0149152. Accessed 9 Aug. 2026.

South African History Online. "Songwriter, film producer and actor Joe Mafela dies." South African History Online. August 23, 2019. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0149152.

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