The late Mbongeni Ngema’s family feels he is not sleeping in peace at the Chesterville Heroes’ Acre in Red Hill Cemetery, Durban, where he was buried on January 5. The Sunday World reports that the late playwright’s family wants to exhume his body.
The Stimela Sase Zola hitmaker was involved in a truck accident on the R61 in Mbizana, Eastern Cape, on December 27. He died soon after being seen by doctors at Adelaide and OR Tambo Memorial Hospitals.
According to a source who talked with the publication, the family of the Sarafina! film producer has begun the legal procedure of exhuming his remains and burying him among his ancestors.
The source stated that this occurred after the family obtained Ngema’s marriage certificate from the Department of Home Affairs, which purportedly claims that he died single. This is in contradiction to public reports that Ngema lawfully married Nompumelelo Gumede.
FAMILY STATEMENT.
Barely a day before Ngema’s funeral, his family in eMfana, eNhlwathi, Hlabisa, expressed their discontent with how his death was handled.
In a letter dated 4 January 2024 to KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube, the family alleged that they had been kept in the dark about the memorial and funeral arrangements.
“To this date, the family knows nothing formally about the memorial service which was supposed to be held at KwaNgema eMfana Homestead (04/01/2024) as discussed in a brief meeting that was held on Sunday (31/12/2023),” according to the letter.
According to the family, a memorial ceremony at eMfana was agreed upon during the burial arrangements. They stated that the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government promised to provide basic materials, such as a tent and catering, but none were provided.
The family also complained that cultural traditions such as “Ukumlanda ngehlahla [collect his spirit]” from where Ngema died, as well as ceremonies such as “Ukugezwa” and “ukugezwa inxeba, nokuvalwa kwengozi [cleansing]” had not been followed.
Furthermore, the letter questioned Ngema’s brother, Nhlanhla’s, public assertion that the family had agreed that he would be buried at Heroes Acres.
They claimed that in the song Mhla Ngifayo [when I die], which he recorded with the Boabab Sisters, Ngema stated his desire to be buried in eMfana with his ancestors.
