#JoeMafela began acting in movies at the age of 22, playing the role of an editor in the movie,Ā Real News. He joined the South African film company SA Films, and over the following 20 years he worked as a producer and director as well as a film actor. He also managed the multi-ethnic dance troupes Mzumba, Sangoma, and the Gold Reef Dancers, which performed in feature films, theaters, and hotels and appeared on four continents.Ā In 1974 Mafela co-starred in the first all-black movie made in South Africa, as Peter Pleasure inUdeliwe. He worked with directorĀ #PeterRHuntĀ (famed for the #JamesBond movieĀ On Her Majesty's Secret Service) in the 1976. With the advent ofĀ television in South African 1976, Mafela worked almost continuously in that medium. In 1986 he was cast as the unemployed lodger S'dumo in theĀ Zulu languageĀ comedy seriesĀ 'Sgudi 'Snaysi. The success ofĀ 'Sgudi 'SnaysiĀ ("Is Good, Is Nice") ā which ran to 78 episodes onĀ SABCĀ ā led to roles in other series, often produced by Mafela's own production company #PenguinFilms. It also encouraged Mafela to enter the advertising industry, working as Creative Director of Black Communications atĀ BBDOSouth Africa and, since 1992, as a director of Sharrer Advertising in Johannesburg. Mafela conceptualised and starred in early Chicken LickenĀ television commercials, and authored the company's "It's good, good, good, it's good its nice"Ā jingleĀ during the making of a Chicken Licken commercial in 1986. In 1996,Ā #GalloRecordsĀ released the album Shebeleza Fela, with the popular hit "Shebeleza (Congo Mama)".Ā It was a huge success, and "Shebeleza" was a theme song during theĀ #AfricaCupofNationsĀ in 1996. Since then, Mafela has recorded and released several other albums of Zulu-language songs. Sometimes called "the face of South African entertainment",Ā and "South Africa's Bill Cosby",Ā he starred as recently as 2011 in the thrillerĀ Retribution. His last gig was in the hit South African #Soapie #Generations Joe died on 18 March leaving his wife and four children #RIP #SAlegend














