Gospel artists who donated a cow to the family of the late Zanele Mbokazi-Nkambule have complained of having been sidelined and left starving at the funeral of the late Ukhozi FM radio presenter. Mbokazi-Nkambule was laid to rest at a provincial funeral which was held at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre (ICC) in Durban last Saturday.

STARVED

Mbokazi-Nkambule passed away over a week ago after losing the battle with stage 4 cancer. Last week, gospel artists donated a cow to the Mbokazi-Nkambule family, and it was delivered to her husband, Bishop Mpendulo Nkambule during the memorial service on Thursday. Artist such as Jumbo, Ayanda Ntanzi, Dumi Mkokstad, Andile kaMajola, Dj Tira, Ga Ndlela, Thobekile, Sipho Makhabane, Ihhashi Elimhlophe, Ebony Ngcobo, Lindelani Mkhize, Dudu Khoza, Timothy Myeni and Zulu Pavarotti, Dj Happigal were part of those who took part in the donation. Some of the artists who spoke to ZiMoja on condition of anonymity said it was a shame that they left the funeral on empty stomachs after they were refused to aueue for food and were told that they had to wait for the family and government officials to dish first. Artists and people who were part of the organising team told ZiMoja that it was embarassing for artists who donated a cow to go home on empty stomachs. Legendary singer Dr Rebecca Malope is said to have been one of the artists who was refused food at the funeral. "She left without tasting food from the funeral, this is unacceptable. We are not saying we should have been given food because we donated the cow but its only humane to offer mourners food," a gospel artist said. The artist feels that they were neglected because there were a lot of dignitaries at the funeral which might have made it impossible for the catering company to cater for everyone. "They could have just let us queue with the family if they respected us," another artist said.

THE SHOCK

Another artist told ZiMoja that they had been assisting the family from Thursday until the day of the funeral only to be treated like the nobodies. "We need to know what happened to the cow that we donated to Nkambule's. They should have slaughtered it to make sure that it covers all the people who came to pay their last respect. Some artists were not even afforded water to drink, imagine," said another artist. According to the artists, the family all the artists and prominent people that had come in large numbers to pay their last respects to Zanele. "The family decided that there won't be feeding anyone at the ICC. The food that was prepared was kept in La Mercy and it is a distance from the ICC," the source said.

Mirror PR Spokesperson Nonjabulo Mdluli had not responded to Zimoja at the time of publishing.