Busi Mhlongo remembered six years on

The Inanda-born song-bird was the first female maskandi artist to record in South Africa and was known as "the queen of modern Zulu music”, having produced music that was an eclectic mix of jazz, reggae and traditional Zulu music.

Mhlongo also recorded a collaboration with the three-time Grammy Award-winning Ladysmith Black Mambazo a year before her passing.

Mambazo member Albert Mazibuko has describes the time they spent recording with Mhlongo as emotional, as her therapy had taken a toll on her and sometimes she'd be too weak to sing and they would just play for her.

"When we sing a song, she was always sitting down with her hand on her face and you can see that she has been transported somewhere with the sound. It was very emotional. You can tell that these were the last stages and we miss her a lot," he said.

At the time of her death, Mhlongo was living in Durban.  

(File photo: Getty Images)