Rathebe, by now the first African female star, fell in love with William Buti Nketle, a notorious Sophiatown gangleader. She soon became a gangster’s moll, often at the forefront of battles against rival gangs.
With leading roles in Alf Herbert’s African Jazz and Variety Show and in Gibson Kente’s Sikalo, Rathebe’s career continued to blossom, and she became a mentor to up-and-coming artists such as Miriam Makeba, Thandi Klaasen, Dorothy Masuka and Sophie Mgcina. But while other musicians left for exile, Rathebe stayed behind and endured apartheid.
Her beloved Sophiatown was finally destroyed in the early 1960s. Rathebe, now the lead singer in the Afro-Jazz group the Elite Swingsters, found it increasingly difficult to perform, especially after an 8pm curfew was imposed. She later moved her family to Cape Town, where she ran a shebeen for many years.
“Obituary: Dolly Rathebe,” The Guardian, 27 September 2004
