South Africa bids farewell to 'White Zulu' Johnny Clegg

Performers sing and dance during a memorial for the late South African musician Johnny Clegg in Johannesburg, South Africa, July 26. Clegg died of cancer at the age of 66 after a career with his band Juluka. EPA-Yonhap

Zulu musician Sipho Mchunu pays his respects during a memorial for the late South African musician Johnny Clegg in Johannesburg, South Africa, July 26. EPA-Yonhap

South Africans bade an emotional farewell Friday to singer Johnny Clegg, who defied apartheid with his unique fusion of African and Western culture and sounds.

Ten days after Clegg succumbed to a long battle with cancer, hundreds of fans gathered at a memorial service in Johannesburg where fellow musicians paid homage to the "White Zulu" by performing some of his best-loved tunes.

Actor John Kani delivered a moving eulogy for Clegg, whose music blended Zulu rhythms with Western styles and who defied the apartheid regime's laws of racial segregation.

"It was very easy for Johnny to make a choice and just enjoy white privilege and be a rock star, but he had a heart that told him: 'You have to see the plight of other people as well'," Kani said.

Apart from a solo career, Clegg created and performed in two inter-racial groups, Juluka and Savuka, enduring constant harassment at a time when black and white South Africans were prohibited from mixing by law.

Clegg, whose best-known track was arguably Asimbonanga (We Haven't Seen Him), written for then-imprisoned anti-apartheid fighter Nelson Mandela, saw his work repeatedly censored by the white minority regime.

Born in Lancashire, Britain, Clegg moved to Johannesburg with his mother when he was six years old.

Exposure to migrant workers in adolescence introduced him to Zulu culture, dancing and music, and his involvement with black musicians saw him frequently arrested. (AFP)