Mabel Magada

Mabel Magada (1933-2005) Singer, actress on stage and film.

Biography
Born in Graaff Reinet. After completing her schooling in Graaff-Reinet, Mabel enrolled as a student nurse at Johannesburg's Baragwanath, Hospital, but abandoned her studies and returned home to be with her mother, who was ill. She later moved to Port Elizabeth but spent time in Johannesburg during the filming of Song of Africa. She returned to Port Elizabeth and became lead vocalist for a musical group, The Keynotes, managed by Norman Ntshinga, who was to become her husband in 1959.

She died in Port Elizabeth in 2005 at the age of 72.

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance
She was a member of the Serpent Players and one of the first black South African women to play lead roles in movies, shot into stardom when she took the lead role in a feature film Song of Africa in the 1950s.

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