Dolly Rathebe, the musical legend of Sophiatown, is part of South Africa’s rich heritage and history. Sophiatown was a much-storied suburb and vibrant cultural hub in Johannesburg that was destroyed by the South African state in 1955. Its 60,000 black residents were forcibly removed to Meadow.
Dolly Rathebe’s musical legacy is inseparable from the cultural life of Sophiatown. Her celebration of black life, black beauty and black humanity through her films and music was subversive.