Bertha Egnos

Egnos wrote the songs she became best known for, "Mama Thembu's Wedding" and "The Warrior," during the early 70s, intending them to be sung by Eartha Kitt on her tour to South Africa. In the end, Kitt never sang the songs but they did spawn the country's first indigenous hit musical as Egnos used the songs to create the musical "Ipi Tombi" (Where are the girls?) with her daughter Gail Lakier. The musical opened in South Africa in March 1974 and ran for six consecutive years