Drum Magazine Issue 2 | Page 19

17

Final Chorus
Drum covergirl, Dolly Rathebe, remembered by Claudia Schadeberg
olly Rathebe loved to be called ‘the first
African film star’, which she was, having
starred in the pioneering South African feature
film Jim Comes to Jo’burg in 1946. She was also one
of the first black ‘pin up’ girls, appearing on the cover
of the original Drum magazine.

D

Music was Dolly’s first love and it was singing in
shows and shebeens that got her through the dark
days of apartheid. Drum writer, Can Themba, wrote
of her in the Fifties that, “out of the mire has emerged
a Queen, on the compost heap has grown a flower to
perfume the township air.”

September was yet another testament and
confirmation of a life of value, talent, humanity
and beauty which will never die.
Josephine ‘Dolly’ Rathebe; singer, born April 2 1928,
died September 16 2004.
Photographed by Jurgen Schadeburg in 1955.
(www.jurgenschadeburg.com).

The ‘remainee’ musicians, as they were called, those
who stayed behind rather than go into exile, had a
hard time in South Africa as they struggled to survive
four decades of oppression with no recognition and a
scarcity of work. For Dolly, 1994 was the year
that things started to change and she emerged
like a beautiful butterfly, without bitterness,
and with her sultry, husky voice and
inimitable humour intact. Somehow Dolly
always radiated a glow of youth, energy
and humanity, despite the hardships.
In recent years, Dolly devoted much of
her time to humanitarian work, including
the foundation of a centre for
pensioners and children called
‘Meriteng Kwa Dolly’ (or ‘Dolly’s
Retreat’).

Today South Africa is reeling from the
loss of this icon and role model and
her grand funeral on Sunday 26th

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Dolly’s deep seductive voice, “like the
hum of a slow-moving river”, says Can
Themba, captivated audiences worldwide with Nelson Mandela being one
of her principal fans.