The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Rome

Miriam Makeba, the singer who became the musical symbol of the black struggle against apartheid, has died after collapsing at a concert in Italy. She was 76.

Makeba, nicknamed 'Mama Africa' by a worldwide legion of fans and famed for hits such as 'Pata Pata,' 'The Click Song,' died of a heart attack in a Naples hospital after she collapsed as she left the stage at a benefit concert in Castel Volturno on Sunday.

"One of the greatest songstresses of our time Miriam Makeba has ceased to sing," said South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma in a statement.

Born in Johannesburg on March 4, 1932, Makeba became one of Africa's best-known singers and while Nelson Mandela was in prison took up the battle against apartheid through her music. South Africa revoked her citizenship in 1960 and even refused to let her return for her mother's funeral. Makeba spent more than three decades in exile, living in the United States, Guinea and Europe. She saw her music outlawed in her homeland after she appeared in an anti-apartheid film. But she was an international success, winning a Grammy award for Best Folk Recording with US singer Harry Belafonte in 1965 for the album 'An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba.'