The creator of the iconic Sarafina! play will be remembered at a memorial service next week Wednesday at the Durban Playhouse in KwaZulu Natal, his family has announced. Ngema passed away on Wednesday while returning from a funeral in Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape. The car he was travelling in collided head-on with a truck and he succumbed to his injuries at the Adelaide and OR Tambo Memorial Hospital in Mbizana.

THE FUNERAL

Family spokesperson Nhlanhla Ngema said that the legendary playwright and musician will be held on 5 January in his home province of KZN. Nhlanhla said details about the funeral venue and the details about the time for the memorial service will be shared in due course.?The Ngema family and committed artists would like to thank the public and media for the outpouring of grief and continuous coverage since the sudden passing of Dr Ngema. The family recognises that Dr Ngema was not exclusively theirs, for he belonged to the entire people of South Africa, and indeed the international community,? he said.

TRIBUTES CONTINUE TO POUR IN

KZN-based artists and Minister of Sports and Culture Zizi Kodwa visited Ngema's family at his home in Durban yesterday. Kodwa said that Ngema deserves a befitting funeral. "Today I spent time with the family of the late Dr Mbongeni Ngema. His passing is a significant loss to South African arts. Dr Ngema is a global icon who used theatre to dismantle apartheid," Kodwa said. Actor Sello Maake ka Ncube paid an emotional tribute to Ngema. "Mbongeni Ngema! Madlokovu! ?One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt Die.? Madlokovu.?Born of the sun, he travelled a short while toward the sun and left the vivid air signed with his honour.? These two quotes from two different poems best expresses how I feel on hearing of Mbongeni Ngema's passing. MHSRIP," Maake ka Ncube wrote.