Minister Mourns the passing of cultural pioneer Maria McCloy
It is with profound sadness that I have learnt of the passing of Maria McCloy – celebrated DJ, publicist, fashion designer, and one of the most consequential creative forces South Africa has produced in the post-apartheid era. She died on Tuesday evening, 12 May 2026, at Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg, following heart failure. She was just 50 years old.
Maria McCloy did not wait for the culture industry to make space for her, she built the space herself. Through Black Rage Productions and Outrageous Records, she helped define what urban black creative life looked and sounded like in democratic South Africa. She launched…
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