Candy Tsa Mandebele moves back home after 25 years because of pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic and resulting lockdown continues to ravage SA, forcing musician Candy Tsa Mandebele to make the difficult decision to move back home.

The star has been based in Gauteng for 25 years but on Tuesday posted a video of her packing all her belongings in a truck to take back home to Bolobedu in Limpopo.

“Covid-19 was not easy but I had to,” she told fans.

In a statement the star confirmed the move and said it was not a permanent arrangement.

“Candy is happy to be at home with her granddaughter and the entire family.”

Candy will run her business remotely from her home in the region, and released her first song out of Bolobedu on Friday.

As part of her fresh break, she also re-released her latest album Still Here and debut Siki Five Cents under her record and entertainment company Mosekedi Entertainment.

The lockdown, and its regulations regarding the entertainment industry, had a major impact on Candy, and last year the star told TshisaLIVE that at one point she struggled to make ends meet.

“I have been so affected by the virus. There are no shows and we do not know when the president will announce we can perform again. There is no relief from the government. I applied for relief from the department of sports, arts and culture but haven't received anything. It is difficult,” she said in July last year.

The situation left her struggling, without savings and reliant on her elderly mother.

“I don’t want anyone to hear that the bank came for my house and I am broke. I was not broke, I just wasn’t working. Not by chance, but because of the pandemic.

“My mother is sending me R600 a month for food. I am broke because the money I saved is finished. I am living on R600 groceries. My mother is 92-years-old. Instead of enjoying her money and me looking after her, she is buying mielie meal for me.”

She said politician Bathabile Dlamini sent her a food voucher after hearing about her plight.