The family of the late playwright and producer, Mbongeni Ngema, in Nhlwathi have confirmed that there are divisions over his final resting place. Ngema died last week after a car crash near Bizana in the Eastern Cape.
The SABC has received information of a recording in which Ngema expressed the wish to be buried at home in Nhlwathi in northern KwaZulu-Natal. This is supported by some members of the Ngema family, while others in the family earlier announced that his funeral and burial were set to take place in Durban on Friday.
The authenticity of the recording could not be independently verified.
Ngema has been accorded a special provincial official funeral Category 2 by government.
A special provincial official funeral service is scheduled to be held at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in the city on Friday. The funeral will include ceremonial elements of the police.
Mbongeni Ngema | Pres. Ramaphosa grants Special Provincial Funeral for Mbongeni Ngema:
His memorial service is set to be held in the Durban Playhouse tomorrow..
The memorial service is being arranged by his family and his company, Committed Artists.
The 68-year old Ngema died last week after a car crash near Bizana in the Eastern Cape.
Ngema received critical acclaim for his play Sarafina! in the 1980’s, which was adapted for the screen in the 1990’s starring Whoopi Goldberg.
Chairperson of the South African Association Arts Administrators, Phumzile Manikela, says she will miss Mbongeni Ngema’s down to earth fatherliness.
Manikela worked with Ngema at times during her career..
“Young at heart, I’ll emphasize on that. Because as iconic as he was, there was a humility that would actually make you forget that he’s an icon, he’s a legend in the arts. He would be in there at the level of whoever he would work with. So that much I will miss of him. And he was a father. As much as you were working with him, he would bring in that fatherly figure in him,” says Manikela.
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