Award-winning singer & Loliwe hitmaker Zahara is dead

The South African music industry is in mourning following the sudden demise of award-winning singer Bulelwa Mkutukana alias Zahara.

A statement issued by Arts and Culture Minister Zizi Kodwa details that Zahara passed away while receiving treatment at a private hospital in Johannesburg on Monday night just before 9 pm.

The minister said he was very saddened by the passing of the singer and expressed his deepest condolences to her family and the South African music industry.

He remembered Zahara as having made an incredible and lasting impact on South African music.

“I am very saddened by the passing of  @ZaharaSA. My deepest condolences to the Mkutukana family and the South African music industry. The government has been with the family for some time now. Zahara and her guitar made an incredible and lasting impact in South African music,” Minister Zizi Kodwa

Zahara's family issued a statement on her social media pages two weeks ago, in response to media rumors that she had fallen ill.

According to the statement, the 35-year-old singer was admitted to the hospital with "physical pains" and doctors were treating her.

However, she died on Monday at the same private hospital but the cause of her death is yet to be revealed.

In 2011, the singing sensation released her first studio album, Loliwe, which went double platinum.

Her second album, Phendula, topped the charts two years later, with three top singles: Phendula, Impilo, and Stay.

In 2015, she repeated the feat with Country Girl, which went triple platinum, and Nqaba Yam, her fifth album, which debuted at number one on iTunes.

The self-taught guitarist has 17 SAMusic awards, three Metro FM awards, and a Nigeria Entertainment award to his name.

Netizens from different parts of the world took to social media to mourn the sudden demise of the singer

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