The late Jabulani “HHP” Tsambo will be laid to rest at the Hero’s Acre Section of the Mmabatho cemetery in Mahikeng, North West, on Saturday.
His body arrived in Mahikeng on Friday, following the High Court in Johannesburg ruling denying his wife’s application to interdict the funeral.
Spokesperson for the North West premier Vuyisile Ngesi says “The remains of the late Jabba will be open to view from 05:30 to about 06:30. From here at home, we will proceed to the Mmabatho Convention Centre where the funeral service will commence. We hope and believe that by 12 o’clock we should be done. Then we’ll proceed to the Mmabatho cemetery, where in his honour, he will be laid to rest in the Section of the cemetery known as the Hero’s Acre.”
The Hip-Hop star passed away last week at the age of 38, at his Randpark Ridge home in Johannesburg.
Funeral in Mahikeng
It’s not yet clear whether Lerato Sengadi, the wife of deceased, will attend his funeral in Mahikeng. The High Court in Johannesburg on Friday confirmed Sengadi as the musician’s customary wife.
She argued that the Tsambo family was sidelining her and had told her she was not welcomed at the funeral as they did not recognise her as HHP’s wife.
Sengadi’s attorney Ndileka Sithole explains, “She’s got to firstly decide whether she is going to attend the funeral or not. You know she hasn’t decided whether that’s going to happen and particularly with regards to the press releases that have been made by the family leading up to this point she’s not sure. If that is in fact an opportunity to her, however, they have indicated many times in court, as you guys have heard, that an invitation is extended. So we cannot speculate at this point whether that is an honest invitation. It was an invitation to sway the court in their favour.”
Meanwhile Sengadi says she is pleased that she will now be able to honour her husband the way he would have wanted her to.
People coming from far and wide are expected to gather in Mahikeng to pay their last respects to the king of Motswako. Tsambo is remembered for the role he played in grooming upcoming artists, particularly from his hometown, Mahikeng who are now successful.
