The passing of kwaito legend Sandile Ngwenya, affectionately known as Mapaputsi, has left a void in the hearts of his fans and family. However, the grief has been compounded by the exploitation and disrespect the family has faced in the wake of his death.
While the family mourns the loss of their beloved son, father, and friend, they have found themselves battling a wave of opportunism from individuals seeking to profit from their vulnerability.
“During this time of weakness, some individuals have found ways to 'manipulate' and 'scavenge' with the intention of gaining financially," shared a family member, who requested anonymity.
"They understand how the entertainment industry works and have identified loopholes to try to extort money and intimidate the family."
One particularly egregious instance involved a person claiming to be a friend of Mapaputsi who offered to help the family fetch his body from Durban. The family member recounted how this so-called friend, claiming to act out of the goodness of his heart, offered to handle all financial obligations. However, this was a thinly veiled attempt to extort money from the grieving family.
"He said he was solving the problem as a friend, we said ‘fine friend, you insist, you can do it.’ As days were coming closer to Monday and the paperwork needs to happen, now he doesn’t want us to take the body and the paperwork and put it with the undertaker that we chose," the family member explained.
The family was then bullied into using an undertaker they hadn't chosen, and when they refused, Mapaputsi's body was held hostage. The "friend" demanded a payment of R50 000 for the removal and storage of the body, despite the family's insistence on using their chosen undertaker.
"We have been abused, bullied, and we’ve been stopped from communicating with one another. Our privacy has also been infringed upon by the 24/7 presence of these so-called mourners, yet they are celebrating, smiling, drinking and disrespecting us as a family," a family member lamented.
The family was eventually able to retrieve the body and necessary documents after a tense standoff at the artist's home in Zola, Soweto, involving the police, Funeral Industry Reformed Association (FIRA), and the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture. The ordeal, however, has taken a heavy toll on Mapaputsi's sickly mother, adding to the family's burden.
Adding insult to injury, another individual with a surname similar to the late star attempted to request financial assistance from the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture without the family's consent.
"He is using the surname to claim money as the representative of the family. We haven’t appointed him. Certain industry characters have also intimidated the person that we wanted to represent us because he offered assistance in the time of need, but these industry individuals have physically intimidated him. It’s a power struggle here, and the prize is the family," the family member said.
The family has made a heartfelt plea to the public to respect their grief and allow them the space to mourn their loss with dignity.
"I would like to request the public to respect this moment of grief and this time of mourning that our family is going through. We have not only lost a star, but we have lost a father, our uncle, and those who loved him dearly have lost a friend. Sandile, not Mapaputsi was someone we expected more from – that he would be walking us down the aisle, and be present at our graduations," a family member said.
The family has emphasized that they welcome any genuine assistance but insists on the right to decide how they wish to handle the process. They will share details of the memorial service and funeral in due course.
