Singer who began her singing career in Johannesburg in the 1950s, most notably with the Skylarks. She was cast in the musical King Kong and when it toured overseas she remained there, choosing life in exile to returning to apartheid South Africa.
She went on to a hugely successful solo career, also releasing an album with Harry Belafonte. Some of her most notable albums were An Evening with Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makeba (1966), Pata Pata (1968), Sabelani (1979), Sangoma (1988) and Welela (1989).
She returned to South Africa in the early 1990s and continued to release albums and perform until her death in 2008.