Eugene Mthethwa: 'The nation buried Tsekeleke before he died'

10 August 2017 - 14:40 By Karishma Thakurdin and Nonhlanhla Msibi
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Eugene Mthethwa said that Tsekeleke was buried by the industry long before his death.
Eugene Mthethwa said that Tsekeleke was buried by the industry long before his death.
Image: Kyle Zeeman

Kwaito veteran Eugene Mthethwa has expressed disappointment and sadness over the way Tsekeleke was "forgotten and silenced" by the industry and the nation. 

On Wednesday afternoon those close to Tsekeleke gathered at the Rabasotho Community Centre to honour the late kwaito star, who died last week after a battle with diabetes.

Tsekeleke's death came just days before Rhythm City actor, Dumi Masilela was shot in an attempted hijacking in Tembisa. 

Speaking to TshisaLIVE outside the hall, Eugene said that the industry had failed the late kwaito star. 

"For me to say the industry will miss Tsekeleke will be wrong because as you can see and hear, not much is being said about Tsekeleke, it is about Dumi. The industry and the nation had silenced, had buried Tsekeleke long before his death," Eugene said. 

The kwaito veteran added that people didn't play his music and that he was sitting at home with no work. 

"People didn't play his music, he was sitting at home with no work so no one will really miss him because they had already forgotten about Tsekeleke, it is only now that he has died that people are talking about him again and have started to remember that he existed at some point, which is very sad," he said. 

Eugene said he believed that as artists they also failed each other because they didn't care about each other. 

"Even for me as an artist we fail each other because I didn't know where Tsekeleke stayed, he didn't know where I stayed, I only get to know where members of the sector stayed when they are dead. It shows that we don't care about each other, how do we expect the nation and ordinary people to care for us when we don't care about each other?," he questioned. 

Pastor Mboro echoed Eugene's sentiments and told TshisaLIVE that celebrities needed to support each other more. 

Tsekeleke will be laid to rest on Saturday after a private funeral service. 

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