The South African Broadcasting Corporation has reported the death of singer Sathima Bea Benjamin at the age of 76. The Cape Town-born singer who has been honoured by the South African government for her work as a jazz artist and her contribution to the struggle against apartheid was influenced by Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald at the beginning of her career as she made her way as a young singer in Cape Town. Meeting saxophonist Kippie Moeketsi in the early part of her career would be crucial, as even more so would meeting her future spouse Dollar Brand, Abdullah Ibrahim as he would later become.

After the Sharpeville Masssacre Benjamin and Ibrahim left for Europe and lived in Zurich and were encouraged by Duke Ellington who heard Ibrahim’s trio at Club Africana. Benjamin sang for him and she recorded although the album didn’t get released until the late-1990s. Billy Strayhorn and Duke both feature on what was then titled A Morning in Paris. Later the singer would launch her own record label Ekapa and released several albums of her own, one of which was nominated for a Grammy. Her honours include the Order of Ikhamanga Silver Award bestowed on her by the South African president Thabo Mbeki in 2004. Sathima Bea Benjamin pictured with Duke Ellington