Interesting things you need to know about Bulelwa Mkutukana aka Zahara

A self-taught guitarist now touring the world and known throughout for her acoustic contributions, she climbed the same ladder as Brenda Fassie. Zahara grew up loving singing and along the way she found that she could add a guitar into the mix, and bless so many people through her calm voice and strings she plays. Zahara Age. Zahara was born on the 9th of November in 1988, she is 31-years-old.

The musician was born in Phumlani Informal Settlement and was given the name Bulelwa Mkutukana at birth. Growing up, she stayed with her parents Nokhaya and Mlamli Mkutukana. Zahara is the sixth child of seven children.

Zahara started showing her interest in singing at the age of 6 when she joined the Sunday School choir, where she was recognised for her singing and was later appointed as the lead of the Sunday School choir in Phumlani. Zahara was given the stage name “spinach” which led to her stage name, “Zahara” which means a blooming flower.

The musician lost her brother Mbuyiseli Mkutukana in 2014 who was brutally murdered, it led the musician to put a pause on her music to mourn. She continued a year after the death of her brother.

Zahara ‌Boyfriend

Zahara was seeing Ian Sibiya. The duo celebrated their second anniversary in 2019 but, sadly thereafter the two broke up. Due to speculations that Ian was worried about his personal life being made available on social media.

According to her manager, Oyama Dyosiba said to the paper, “We have been working extremely hard on tours, line-ups and all the busy schedules one could ever think off. I want her to settle down with a well-deserved man who will compliment her and support her. I want her to be swept away by the love and be happy.

The singer could become a missus by the end of the year. She is reportedly dating a pastor. After breaking up with her ex-boyfriend, Zahara revealed that she wants to be in a relationship and settle with a God-fearing man.

“I derive my ambition from my parents, who are Christians. They have been married for so many years and they are still best friends,” she said.

She confirmed her rumoured relationship status, and closed it off with “might get married soon” or “before the end of the year”.

Zahara Career

Zahara is a classical Afrosoul queen who sings in her native language, isiXhosa and she sings some of her songs in English. In describing her unique sounds and songs, her music is classified as a mixture of Tracy Chapman’s sound and India Arie who is an RnB musician.
Zahara has always been associated with alcohol in social media. She shared music and a couple of funny moments as her way of coping with social distancing.

But it wasn’t for long until rumours started spreading that she was drunk on her live feed. In her conversation with TshisaLive, she said

My Instagram Live videos are always so lighthearted. I am always joking and was just having fun so I am alarmed with people saying these things. I did a lot of crazy things and no-one said anything. Someone asked me to sing the anthem and I decided to just have fun with it. I just wanted people to laugh at me struggling with the anthem, it wasn’t meant to be disrespectful or a big issue.

“It hurts me because they say people don’t know me. I don’t drink, even though people around me do. I am not worried about it though, I will continue with my Instagram Live videos. In 2019, Zahara decided to break the silence and expose the unhealthy relationship that she had with TS Records, a record label owned by Dj Sbu.