MASKANDI musicians paid their last respects to the late King Goodwill Zwelithini on Friday, 23 April.
They handed over six cows at KwaKhethomthandayo royal palace in Nongoma, northern KZN, as a way to honour the king.
They raised about R 50 000 to buy cows to mourn the passing of the king, who was also known as the father of Zulu traditional music.
Top maskandi artists such as Shwi Nomtekhala, Khuzani Mpungose, Cevuzile, Bahubhe, Ichwane Lebhaca, Ithwasa Lekhansela and many more were part of the artists who mourned the king.
Led by legendary maskandi musician Thokozani “Somnandi” Langa, they said they decided to bring six cows because the late king had six palaces and they wanted to give each palace one cow.
Somnandi told Daily Sun it was very important for them as artists to go to the royal.
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“When the king passed away it was difficult to get together as artists and go to the palace to mourn for him. He loved us and we hope he will still fight for us in heaven and fight for our money as artists.
“We negotiated this and started to raise the money and asked the royal house for permission to come and they granted us. Other artists didn’t come personally but donated money when we were raising it,” he said.
He said a few years ago when maskandi artists were dying like flies in a short space of time, they went to the king to report it. He said the king then prayed for them and the deaths stopped.
“The king also advised us to respect ourselves and take music as a business so it can put bread on the table for our families.
“He loved our music and many artists normally performed at his events. He was also a keyboard player,” he said.
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Mandla Xaba of Shwi NoMtekhala duo told Daily Sun he was honoured to have been part of the group who mourned for the king.
“We were hurt to hear that his majesty was no more and we had to do efforts to come and mourn his passing as our father.
“He was the owner of our traditional music and the Zulu language we use. We are showing him the love he showed us” he said.
Zulu royal house representative Prince Nsika Zulu told the People’s Paper that as the royal house, they appreciate what artists did.
“I encourage them not to stop singing because the king is no more. I encourage them to put us in their prayers through their music.
“We didn’t thing that they will come with six cows for each royal palace. This is a good idea and I will tell other royal house members to give each palace one cow,” he said.
