[1] Mountain Records describes Coetzee thus: His distinctive raunchy tenor sound and the untiring commitment to his cultural roots made him one of the best known jazzmen to come out of South Africa.

An article in The Scotsman records that "Coetzee developed a soulful, gospel-influenced instrumental voice which had a raw, impassioned urgency at its core.

In 1988 he toured Europe, and released the album Sabenza, with Robbie Jansen, Paul Abrahams (bassist) and Jack Momple, who had all left American-influenced jazz in search of their Cape roots.

In the period between leaving his former Pacific Express associates and playing only sporadically for Ibrahim, Coetzee and bass player Paul Abrahams worked together as a duo.

The band Sabenza was active on the local scene, and regularly featured bassist Paul Abrahams, guitarist James Kibby, and drummer Vic Higgins.

Basil Coetzee died during the night of 11 March 1998, after a long struggle with cancer, survived by five children and six grandchildren.