Born March 25th, 1994, Bongekile Simelane popularly known by her stage name Babes Wodumo, is an award winning singer, songwriter and dancer, under the Gqom genre in South Africa.

 

 

 

Babes Wodumo rose to fame after her single “Wololo” became a major hit in the music scene. She also went further to gain more recognition as it got featured on Black Panther’s soundtrack, on a song titled “Redemption”.

Babes Wodumo since her debut, has collaborated with a lot of top artist in the SA music scene and has also shared the same stage with top International artists.

Another tragedy has struck the Simelane family. Barely two months since her husband Mandla “Mampintsha” Maphumulo died after suffering a stroke in December 2022. Her mother-in-law Zamanguni Gumede died after a few weeks of being hospitalized. Now, Gqom singer Bongekile “Babes Wodumo” Simelane is hit by another tragic death.
The Wololo singer and her family learned the news of her uncle’s passing on Wednesday. Speaking to ZiMoja, Babes Wodumo’s sister Nondumiso Simelane says last year, her maternal uncle, Mduduzi Masikane had a heart operation.

“The operation was very successful,” she says. “So we were not expecting this to happen,”she adds. The eldest brother to their mother, Mduduzi died in his Pinetown home. “uMalume was fine yazi. He passed on at home. We thought after the heart operation he would be okay.