Zulu actor Joe Mafela dies in car accident

Beloved South African actor Joe Mafela has died following a car accident.
Born in 1942, his film debut came in the South African film Real News in 1964, and he also had a minor role in British war epic Zulu the same year.
His publicist Gaaratwe Mokhethi told South Africa’s The Sowetan newspaper her client had passed away after being involved in an accident on his way to his home in Johannesburg, from South Africa’s Soweto district.
“He has passed away. It was a car accident and he was on his way home from Soweto. But the family will make more details available at a later stage, but he was in a car accident,” Mokhethi said. “For now, from what I gathered is that he was alone in the car. So he was driving.”
Police spokesperson Edna Mamonyane confirmed to the newspaper that the actor had been pronounced dead at the scene, and that an investigation into his death is now underway.
Mafela starred in South Africa’s first all-black feature film U’Deliwe in 1975 and also had a small role alongside Lee Marvin and Roger Moore in Peter R. Hunt’s 1976 period drama Shout at the Devil.
He was also a popular songwriter and TV star in his homeland, and from 1986 to 1992 he starred in popular Zulu language TV comedy ‘Sgudi ‘Snaysi.
In a statement South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma paid tribute to the star, saying, “We have learned with sadness of the passing of one of the pioneers of the television comedy loved by all South Africans young and old.”