South African Pop Star, Lebo Mathosa, Dies in Car Crash

At about 12:30 am on Monday, October 23rd, Kwaito super star, Lebo Mathosa, died in a car accident in South Africa on the N3 highway on the East Rand. She was 29 years old.

A passenger in the vehicle, Mathosa was ejected from the black 4x4 Toyota Prado, which rolled several times before crashing into a tree near the Heidelburg Road off-ramp in Germinston, east of Johannesburg. According to the police, the 20-year-old male driver survived and was treated for minor injuries at the scene.

Pretoria News reported that a case of culpable homicide was opened.

Lebo Mathosa was born in Daveyton, Ekuhuleni, to Magdeline and Gerrit Mathosa in 1977 and later moved to Johannesburg before breaking into the music industry in her late teens.

After honing her singing talent in a gospel choir, Mathosa rose to fame at 18 as the lead singer to the multi-platinum kwaito hip-hop style group Boom Shaka. In 1997, the group was the center of controversy after performing a kwaito version of the national anthem, "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrica" at the South African Music Awards.

Making her solo debut with her single titled, "Intro," off of her album titled, "Dream," Mathosa shocked many in the music industry when "Dream" went gold four weeks after it was released in 2000.

In 2004, she released her second solo album titled "Drama Queen" and in the same year performed for the Kora Awards.

Last year, Mathosa was a featured performer when MTV launched its Africa music channel, MTV Base and won Best Dance Album for "Drama Queen" at the MTN South African Music Awards.

Her success continued as she was nominated last month for a Music of Black Origin (MOBO) award and has appeared in several South African soap operas.

Among her many accomplishments Mathosa has also performed for the Queen of England at the Celebrate South Africa concert at the historical Trafalgar Square in London and in South Africa at Nelson Mandela's 85th birthday party. Mathosa also toured and performed in the Obie Award-winning episodic play "The Vagina Monologues," written by Eve Ensler.

According to the Times, upon learning of Mathosa's passing, Pallo Jordan, the South African Cultural Minister, said, " We will always remember her as a highly gifted, young African 'Drama Queen' who used her life, talent and career to promote pride, respect and appreciation for African music, dance, fashion, heritage, art and culture."