Ubhuti (South African song)

Date: 1997

Region: Africa

Subject: Explicit Sexuality

Medium: Music


Artist: Mbongeni Ngema (b. 1955)

Confronting Bodies: African language radio-stations at the South African Broadcasting Corporation

Date of Action: December 1997

Location: South Africa

Description of Artwork: Ngema's track, Ubhuti, reprimands a woman for "killing a man with her vagina."

The Incident: According to a station manager at Ukhozi FM, the Zulu language was "too sensitive a language" to use in speaking overtly about sex.

Results of Incident: Eight radio stations banned Ngema's song.

Source: Index on Censorship, 2/97