South African singer Miriam Makeba dies in Italy

Johannesburg  - South African singer Miriam Makeba died Monday morning from a heart attack in an Italian clinic, her manager confirmed.

Makeba, 76, felt ill after a performance on Sunday evening and was brought by ambulance to a hospital in Castel Volturno in southern Italy, where she died, Italy's ANSA news agency said.

"It was a life well lived," her manager told South African private radio station Radio 702.

"It's really the passing of an era, her legacy will always live on. She hasn't been well for some time now, she had serious arthritis. She had plans for another album to come out. She opened the eyes and ears of the world to South African music," he said in an interview with a different radio station.

The singer had taken part in a concert to support Italian writer Roberto Saviano in his campaign against the Camorroa, a Mafia-like organization in southern Italy.

Makeba, a former anti-apartheid activist, was born on March 4, 1932, and enjoyed international fame with the hit song Pata Pata.

The artist, who was respectfully called Mama Africa in heir home country, always put herself and her music in the service of freedom, justice and understanding between peoples.

Makeba, who also worked as an actress, author and composer, received awards from all over the world for their fight against apartheid in South Africa.

The artist, who matured in the jazz scene of the 1950s, was one of the first who brought her continent's music to the West in the following decade.

Forced to live in exile for 30 years because of her political activities first in Britain and later in the United States and Guinea, she was only allowed to return to South Africa in 1990. (dpa)

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