III. Beginnings Leading to Exile

Makeba and Masekela’s paths to exile are more similar to another South African poet – Arthur Nortje. Nortje excelled in his studies and graduated from the University College of the Western Cape the University. Apartheid, especially The Extension of the University Education Act of 1959 which established racially based universities, limited his further educational opportunities. He received a scholarship to Jesus College, Oxford University – the opportunity to fulfill “his dream not only of leaving South Africa but also of getting an education at a prestigious academic institution” (Klopper 13).

Similarly, Makeba and Masekela found early music success in South Africa and left the country to explore greater opportunities outside of the restrictions that apartheid imposed. Masekela explains about his decision to leave, “I knew that if I stayed in South Africa, my career would be doomed…To progress in my musical career, I would have to get out of South Africa” (Masekela 81). However, both musicians were born in the 1930s and grew up feeling and seeing the affects that apartheid had on their people. Following is an overview of their beginnings as musicians, journeys towards exile, and encounters with the effects of apartheid that planted the seeds of resistance.

IIIa. Beginnings Leading to Exile: Miriam Makeba
IIIb. Beginnings Leading to Exile: Hugh Masekela