--- description: Zenzile Miriam Makeba is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century. title: Zenzile Miriam Makeba: 100 Women of the Year image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt167e6d9f70eca248/698a0aed8fd2ee619e360f7c/social-1967_Miriam-Makeba.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 1967: Zenzile Miriam Makeba Mar 5, 2020 11:37 AM CUT  Ed Thrasher—MPTV/Reuters by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 5, 2020 11:37 AM CUT The 1967 global hit “Pata Pata,” sung by Johannesburg-born Zenzile Miriam Makeba, wasn’t South Africa’s freedom anthem—[apartheid](https://time.com/3805550/after-apartheid-reflecting-on-south-africa-20-years-later/ "undefined") wouldn’t end for another 27 years—but it provided the opening riff for a revolution. A musician forced into exile in the U.S. in 1960 by a regime weary of her vocal opposition, Makeba, known by then as Mama Africa, salted her international concerts with harrowing accounts of growing up black under white-minority rule. Wherever she toured, condemnation of her government followed. “People think I consciously decided to tell the world what was happening in South Africa,” she once told an interviewer. “No! I was singing about my life, and in South Africa we always sang about what was happening to us—especially the things that hurt us.” The opening chords of “Pata Pata” were an irresistible earworm; by the time Makeba hit the refrain, audiences were already moving, both with the music and against the apartheid regime. Makeba returned to South Africa once apartheid began to crumble in 1990, picking up almost exactly where she had left off 31 years prior: using her music as a balm for her country’s wounded soul. _—Aryn Baker_  South African singer Zenzi Miriam Makeba in the RCA recording studios in the 1960s in New York City.Michael Ochs Archives—Getty Images --- _This article is part of_ [_100 Women of the Year_](https://time.com/100-women-of-the-year/ "undefined")_, TIME’s list of the most influential women of the past century. Read more_ [_about the project_](https://time.com/5793734/time-100-women-of-the-year-issue/ "undefined")_, explore the_ [_100 covers_](https://time.com/5793732/time-100-women-of-the-year-covers/ "undefined") _and sign up for our_ [_Inside TIME newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/newsletters?newsletter%5Fname=INSIDE%5FTIME&source=article-woy-footer "undefined") _for more._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5793625/zenzile-miriam-makeba-100-women-of-the-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5793625/zenzile-miriam-makeba-100-women-of-the-year/"},"headline":"1967: Zenzile Miriam Makeba","datePublished":"2020-03-05T11:37:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:21:11.735Z","description":"Zenzile Miriam Makeba is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century.","url":"https://time.com/5793625/zenzile-miriam-makeba-100-women-of-the-year/","keywords":["Women of the Year"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt167e6d9f70eca248/698a0aed8fd2ee619e360f7c/social-1967_Miriam-Makeba.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt167e6d9f70eca248/698a0aed8fd2ee619e360f7c/social-1967_Miriam-Makeba.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SOCIAL - Women of the Year: 1967_Miriam-Makeba","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5793625/zenzile-miriam-makeba-100-women-of-the-year/","name":"1967: Zenzile Miriam Makeba"}}]}] ```