{"id":37204,"date":"2026-06-16T07:21:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T05:21:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=37204"},"modified":"2026-06-16T07:27:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T05:27:12","slug":"sa-president-pays-tribute-to-jazz-legend-abdullah-ibrahim","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/sa-president-pays-tribute-to-jazz-legend-abdullah-ibrahim\/","title":{"rendered":"SA President pays tribute to jazz legend Abdullah Ibrahim"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid tribute to South African (SA) jazz legend and anti-apartheid activist Abdullah Ibrahim, who has died at the age of 91.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Ibrahim was awarded the Order of Ikhamanga in Silver in 2009 for his contribution to the arts and the struggle against apartheid.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Ramaphosa described Ibrahim as a global icon who used his music to advance justice and showcase SA to the world.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, a statement by his family said that Ibrahim, passed away peacefully in Germany following a short illness, surrounded by his family. His remarkable career spanned more than seven decades, during which he became one of the most influential and celebrated figures in international jazz.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>His final SA public performance took place at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival in March.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Ibrahim was renowned for his distinct piano sound that captured and represented the history and culture of the Cape Malay community, especially his hit song Mannenberg.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He is set to be laid to rest in the Bavarian region of Germany.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Musician Sipho Mabuse has reflected on his memories of Ibrahim, affectionately known in the industry as \u201cDollar Brand\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;SABC&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":37205,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-37204","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid tribute to SA jazz legend and anti-apartheid activist Abdullah Ibrahim","published_date":"2026-06-16 07:22:18","news_description":"President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid tribute to SA jazz legend and anti-apartheid activist Abdullah Ibrahim","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37207,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37204\/revisions\/37207"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=37204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}