Lucky Dube was a musical sensation in Africa. He regularly played to crowds of tens of thousands, and his blend of catchy reggae beats and heartfelt cries against injustice made him one of the most popular and bestselling acts on the continent.

By bringing the social message of reggae to apartheid South Africa, he gave a new urgency, a new vitality — and a new audience — to the Jamaican tradition of Bob Marley and, particularly, Peter Tosh. After the end of white rule, Dube’s evocative sketches of poverty, illness, joy and yearning brought him success across Africa that has endured for 20 years. He won acclaim in Europe and America too, with some critics hailing him as one the best reggae acts in the world.

Lucky Philip Dube was born in 1964 on a farm near Ermelo, a dusty town 90 miles west of Johannesburg — the unusual name came about because his mother, after several failed pregnancies, had not expected him to survive. His father, a heavy drinker, left before Dube was born, leaving his mother to bring up the family alone. Dube began to work as soon as he was old enough to supplement the family income.

At school he joined the choir and quickly discovered his musical calling. He started his first band in school and in 1982, aged 18, he joined his cousin’s band, the Love Brothers. With them he played the traditional Zulu musical form known as mbaqanga and the band was quickly signed to Teal (now Gallo) Records.

A first album was recorded in Johannesburg and, with Dube now the lead singer, the band’s name was changed to Lucky Dube and the Supersoul. More albums followed in quick succession, with Dube making his first attempts at songwriting, and success was rapid. He was soon recording simply as Lucky Dube.

But at the same time Dube was discovering a new form of music all but banned by the apartheid government — reggae. “I loved the sound, I loved the beat, I loved the message,” he said in 1993. He became convinced that this was the style his country needed and began working on an album, Rastas Never Die. Released in 1984, it flopped, selling only 4,000 copies, as against 30,000 for earlier discs.

Dube’s record company pressed him to return to mbaqanga, but it was too late. “After listening to Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff and Peter Tosh, the message was loud and clear and through the music I could talk to people all over the world. That’s why I changed from mbaqanga music, which only spoke to Zulu-speaking people in South Africa.” In reggae Dube found a form through which he could combine rage against injustice with an uplifting, mellow sound.

He began to introduce reggae into his live show, attempting to convert his existing fans, who were resistant to the new style. It paid off, and his second reggae release, Think About the Children (1985), was a hit. His third, Slave (1987), sold more than 500,000 in South Africa. Its title song refers to alcoholism, but many were quick to claim it as political allegory.

The apartheid Government intermittently tried to ban his music, but his songs were by this stage becoming hits on white radio. Together As One (1987) was more direct — “Too many people hate apartheid/ Why do you like it?” — and became an international symbol of the black struggle.

But Dube denied he was a political musician. “I don’t know politics. All I know is the truth and this is what I write about in my songs. I write about the real things that are happening to me and to the people around me. ”

Prisoner (1989) typified this: “He said to me, crime does not pay/ He said to me, education is the key.” In other hands such overt messages might have sounded forced, but Dube’s low, rich voice, singing regretfully over tight, bouncing drums and a classic reggae bass line, had a unique capacity to make them work. The anger is in the payoff: “They won’t build no schools anymore/ They won’t build no hospitals/ All they’ll build will be prison”.

In 1991 he made a triumphant appearance at the Reggae Sunsplash festival in Jamaica. Dube did not seem overawed by success in reggae’s homeland — “Reggae is everywhere, but its roots are in Africa,” he declared.

After the end of white rule Dube found new sources of injustice to fuel his music, such as corrupt politicians, in Taxman (1997) and Aids in Number in the Book (2003) — “Don’t you think it’s time to be a little more responsible/ Too many people die these days”. His success grew in the 1990s and in recent years he earned international acclaim from tours in Europe and North America.

Although his increasingly luxuriant dreadlocks played up to a reggae stereotype, Dube did not drink or smoke either cigarettes or marijuana. He was a Rastafarian only, he said, “if it means a conscious soldier, one who sees and fights for the right”.

He is survived by his wife Zanele and seven children.

Lucky Dube, singer and songwriter, was born on August 3, 1964. He was shot dead on October 18, 2007, aged 43