SOUTH AFRICA - 2 October 2026: Singer, guitarist and composer Babsy Mlangeni has died at the age of 83, SABC News reported on Friday. Known for songs including Sala Emma, Bua Nnete and Botsotso, he built a career lasting more than five decades in South African music.
EWN also reported his death, describing a short illness, while eNCA carried a separate report. None of those reports identifies a specific medical cause. His death brings renewed attention to both his recordings and his long-standing calls for blind artists to be recognised for their work.
What happened to Babsy Mlangeni? South African musician Babsy Mlangeni has died at 83, according to SABC News, EWN and eNCA reports published on 2 October 2026. Known for Sala Emma and Bua Nnete, he was a singer, guitarist and composer whose career spanned more than five decades.
The songs that carried his name
Sala Emma remained one of Mlangeni's best-known recordings. In an April 2025 interview with 702's Clement Manyathela, he recalled being surprised by its popularity. Although sung in Sesotho, it found listeners in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and Cape Town.
That reach was not confined to one song. SABC's account of his career names Bua Nnete, Botsotso and Lonely Man among his recordings, and notes that he sang in isiZulu, Sesotho and isiXhosa. His work reached audiences across several language communities rather than belonging to a single regional market.
He spoke about songwriting as a way to communicate with South Africans. His recollections preserved an artist's perspective on a song whose success still surprised him.
From Soweto to a national audience
Born Bernard Mlangeni in Soweto in 1943, he became widely known by the name Babsy. SABC reports that he attended Athlone School for the Blind in Cape Town, where he learned to play the guitar.
Daily Sun's account of his early career describes his involvement with The All-Rounders, a group of blind musicians, before his solo career. Singing, composing and playing guitar became the foundations of a working life in music that continued across successive generations.
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Babsy Mlangeni Dies at 83: South Africa Remembers the Sala Emma Singer
Oct 2, 2026
Oct 2, 2026
5 min read
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SOUTH AFRICA - 2 October 2026: Singer, guitarist and composer Babsy Mlangeni has died at the age of 83, SABC News reported on Friday. Known for songs including Sala Emma, Bua Nnete and Botsotso, he built a career lasting more than five decades in South African music.
EWN also reported his death, describing a short illness, while eNCA carried a separate report. None of those reports identifies a specific medical cause. His death brings renewed attention to both his recordings and his long-standing calls for blind artists to be recognised for their work.
What happened to Babsy Mlangeni? South African musician Babsy Mlangeni has died at 83, according to SABC News, EWN and eNCA reports published on 2 October 2026. Known for Sala Emma and Bua Nnete, he was a singer, guitarist and composer whose career spanned more than five decades.
The songs that carried his name
Sala Emma remained one of Mlangeni's best-known recordings. In an April 2025 interview with 702's Clement Manyathela, he recalled being surprised by its popularity. Although sung in Sesotho, it found listeners in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and Cape Town.
That reach was not confined to one song. SABC's account of his career names Bua Nnete, Botsotso and Lonely Man among his recordings, and notes that he sang in isiZulu, Sesotho and isiXhosa. His work reached audiences across several language communities rather than belonging to a single regional market.
He spoke about songwriting as a way to communicate with South Africans. His recollections preserved an artist's perspective on a song whose success still surprised him.
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From Soweto to a national audience
Born Bernard Mlangeni in Soweto in 1943, he became widely known by the name Babsy. SABC reports that he attended Athlone School for the Blind in Cape Town, where he learned to play the guitar.
Daily Sun's account of his early career describes his involvement with The All-Rounders, a group of blind musicians, before his solo career. Singing, composing and playing guitar became the foundations of a working life in music that continued across successive generations.
He also helped younger artists. SABC and EWN both identify the late singer Steve Kekana among the musicians he mentored. That relationship forms part of a legacy that extended beyond Mlangeni's own catalogue to the opportunities available to other blind performers.
In the 2025 conversation with Manyathela, Mlangeni recalled facing assumptions that blind people could not build successful careers. He credited his parents with encouraging him to stand confidently rather than accept those expectations.
"I have proved them wrong," he said.
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His account emphasised talent, determination and the attitudes he had encountered. He wanted his music to be heard for its quality and its message, rather than have his career reduced to a story about disability alone.
Recognition, and the challenge of earning a living
Mlangeni received a South African Music Awards Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. Contemporary coverage of the organisers' announcement named him alongside Rebecca Malope and Don Laka, recognising their contributions to the recording industry.
He received another lifetime honour at the National Arts and Culture Awards in 2025. In a direct interview with The Citizen, he welcomed the recognition and said: "I really feel honoured."
But the same interview was not simply a celebration. He described difficulties earning an income as the industry moved away from sales of vinyl, cassettes and CDs towards digital consumption. Large online audiences, he argued, did not necessarily provide the money artists needed.
He also spoke about difficulty securing performance bookings. He described limited exposure for musicians with disabilities, making clear that recognition had not ended his concerns about finding work.
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Sharing the stage with a new generation
His later career also included performances alongside younger musicians. At the We Can Arts Festival in Durban in October 2022, he performed Sala Emma and joined Thee Legacy for Isandla, according to Scrolla.Africa's report from the event.
The programme brought together artists with disabilities and other established performers, including Big Zulu, Ernie Smith and Phuzekhemisi. It provided a setting in which a veteran's songs could sit alongside the work of younger musicians.
In The Star's interview with organiser Xolani Majozi, the festival's purpose was described as creating professional opportunities and access to wider audiences for artists with disabilities. Mlangeni's presence placed a familiar voice within that practical effort to expand participation in the arts.
The SABC, EWN and eNCA reports published on 2 October do not provide a funeral date, memorial venue or detailed medical cause. Those details remain unconfirmed in the reporting available at publication.
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