Jonas Gwangwa The South African jazz icon who stood up to apartheid

South African and world music has lost an icon with the death of jazz trombonist, composer and organiser Jonas Gwangwa.

The musician, who was 83, died on 23 January succumbing to cardiac complications.

He passed away on the same date that his great friend Hugh Masekela had died three years earlier, and two years to the day after Zimbabwean great Oliver Mtukudzi.

Gwangwa, who spent the prime of his life in exile, not only won acclaim for his music, he was also deeply involved in the struggle against white-minority rule in the country.

Born in the Johannesburg township of Soweto on 19 October 1937, Gwangwa went on to enjoy a highly successful musical career spanning six decades.