Everybody now admits that apartheid was wrong, and all I did was tell the people who wanted to know where I come from how we lived in South Africa. I just told the world the truth. And if my truth then becomes political, I can't do anything about that.

In 2001 Miriam Makeba was awarded the Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold by the United Nations Association of Germany (DGVN) in Berlin "for outstanding services to peace and international understanding". After the death of her daughter Bongi in 1985 Miriam Makeba decided to move to Brussels. As the apartheid system crumbled Miriam Makeba returned home for the first time in 1990.

She is best known for the song "Pata Pata" first recorded in 1957 and released in the U. Makeba died of a heart attack on 9 November 2008 after performing in a concert in Italy organised to support writer Roberto Saviano in his stand against the Camorra a mafia-like organisation local to the region of Campania. Makeba campaigned against the South African system of apartheid.