Hulisani Ravele found out about Akhumzi's death from a caller

02 May 2018 - 07:33 By Jessica Levitt
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Akhumzi Jezile and Hulisani Ravele in happier times.
Akhumzi Jezile and Hulisani Ravele in happier times.
Image: Instagram

Hulisani Ravele, a close friend of Akhumzi Jezile, found out from a caller that Akhumzi had died.

She detailed how she was working when someone called to say Akhumzi had died in a car accident.

"Me: Hey! Caller: You good? Me: Yeah. Caller: You sure? Me: Aha, why?Caller: Just heard  about Akhumzi. Me: What about him? Caller: He passed away."

Hulisani said she didn't believe it, even when she saw a hashtag with his name and RIP.

" Seeing a # with RIP and your name after that, sent a chilling pain through my body. It was true. It is true."

Hulisani went back and found an old email from Akhumzi where he had answered questions about himself. It was two questions that he answered that left her devastated.

"If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Akhumzi: 'Heaven, but only if I can come back.' What are you afraid of? Akhumzi: 'Losing the people I love.'"

Hulisani said she might eventually smile but not right now.

"You introduced me to Joyous' 'In The Shadow of His Wings' with Ntokozo Mbambo as the lead, I always told you how that song reminded me of you. It still does. It always will. It's just that right now it won't put a smile on my face and fill my heart with happy memories of you. I know one day it will again, just not today."

You can read her full post here.

Me: Hey! Caller: You good? Me: Yeah. Caller: You sure? Me: Aha, why? Caller: Just heard about Akhumzi. Me: What about him? Caller: He passed away. . Oh Akhumzi, my AKJizzle, the last 36 hours or so have been difficult. For the first few, I ran this conversation over and over again in my head. I thought the more I said 'no, no, no' the more the words I'd just heard about you wouldn't be true. Seeing a # with RIP and your name after that, sent a chilling pain through my body. It was true. It is true. Last night I came across an email you sent years ago, September 2009, (you liked to forward silly mails to your contact list, not even a BCC, but ke, as'ko lapho 😂). It was one of those chain mail thingys and this one was "an edition of getting to know your friends", there was a list of questions you'd answered about yourself: 1. What do you usually have for breakfast? - Anything that is in the fridge 2. What food do you dislike? - Nothing at all 3. What is your favourite CD at the moment? Joyous celebration cd’s 4. What are you listening to now? - Presenters complaining about the live shows. 5. What is your favourite flower? - Andingomlungu mna!! lol (This one ☝🏾 made me 🤣🤣🤣) Reading some of these answers made me laugh out loud and smile! They reminded me of who you were and will always be to many of us, you were love and sunshine personified Akhumzi. And then there were two questions whose answers opened the floodgates: 1. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? - Heaven, but only if I can come back. 2. What are you afraid of? - Losing people I love. So many of us are reeling from losing you Jizzle. So many of us wish you could come back... . You introduced me to Joyous' 'In The Shadow of His Wings' with Ntokozo Mbambo as the lead, I always told you how that song reminded me of you. It still does. It always will. It's just that right now it won't put a smile on my face and fill my heart with happy memories of you. I know one day it will again, just not today. . Rest my friend, in love and in perfect peace. ❤️ #RIPAkhumzi

A post shared by Hulisani Ravele (@hulisaniravele) on

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