Mbongeni Ngema’s family wants to exhume his remains

Mbongeni Ngema’s household doesn’t consider he’s resting in peace on the Chesterville Heroes’ Acre in Pink Hill Cemetery, Durban, the place he was buried on 5 January. That is in keeping with Sunday World, who report that the household of the late playwright wish to exhume his physique.

MBONGENI NGEMA’S FAMILY WANTS TO EXHUME HIS BODY, CLAIM HE WAS NOT LEGALLY MARRIED’

The Stimela Sase Zola hitmaker was concerned in a crash involving a truck on the R61 in Mbizana within the Japanese Cape on 27 December. He died shortly after being attended by medical doctors at Adelaide and OR Tambo Memorial Hospital.

In response to a supply who spoke to the publication, the household of the Sarafina! movie producer have began the authorized course of to exhume his stays and bury him amongst his ancestors.

The supply revealed that this got here after the household acquired Ngema’s marriage certificates from the Division of House Affairs, which allegedly states that he died single. That is in distinction to public details about Ngema having legally married Nompumelelo Gumede.

FAMILY STATEMENT

Barely a day earlier than Ngema’s funeral, his household in eMfana, eNhlwathi in Hlabisa, expressed displeasure with the dealing with of his passing.

In a letter addressed to KwaZulu-Natal premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube, dated 4 January 2024, the household claimed to have been saved in the dead of night relating to the memorial and funeral preparations.

“To this date, the household is aware of nothing formally in regards to the memorial service which was speculated to be held at KwaNgema eMfana Homestead (04/01/2024) as mentioned in a short assembly that was held on Sunday (31/12/2023),” learn the letter.

The household claimed that it had been agreed through the funeral preparations that there could be a memorial service at eMfana. They claimed that guarantees have been made that the KwaZulu-Natal provincial authorities would supply obligatory provides, together with a marquee and catering, however none of those had been delivered.

The household additionally lamented that cultural practices the place household elders ought to do “Ukumlanda ngehlahla [collect his spirit]” from the place Ngema handed away and the rituals of “Ukugezwa” and “ukugezwa inxeba, nokuvalwa kwengozi [cleansing]” had not been adopted.

As well as, the letter disputed the general public assertion by Ngema’s brother, Nhlanhla, that the household had agreed that he could be buried on the Heroes Acres.

They argued that Ngema had expressed his needs to be buried in eMfana together with his ancestors in a track he recorded with the Boabab Sisters titled Mhla Ngifayo [when I die].

Within the track Ngema sings: “Ngosuku engofa [when I die] ngalo/ningisize nibongigcwaba [please bury me] eMfana kwaNgema eNhlwathi/ningisize ningakushintsi lokho noma ngabe ngingasekho kodwa ningakushintshi lokho [do not ever deviate from this]”.

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