Babes Wodumo responds to Gayton MacKenzie’s racially-fuelled utterances

Mampintsha’s wife Babes Wodumo has responded to Patriotic Alliance leader Gayton McKenzie after he said that the KZN Government financially supported Mampintsha’s burial because he is black, as opposed to AKA whose funeral was not backed by Gauteng government.

“They’ll talk about you even when you’re not here, my love, because they want to accomplish their purposes. It hurts, I don’t want to lie but we will hold on. Mampintsha name isn’t for you to use, to get votes,” wrote Babes Wodumo in isiZulu on her Twitter.

The South African politician has sparked racial tensions by suggesting that the Government showed preferential treatment to Mampintsha juxtaposed to AKA.

“When Mampintsha died the Government jumped like popcorn to bury him but when AKA died the Government didn’t jump, they refuse to help the family. The difference between AKA and Mampintsha is that Mampintsha is Black and AKA is Coloured,” said the Patriotic Alliance leader McKenzie in a video over the weekend.

These utterances by McKenzie have not sat well with Babes Wodumo, who accused the politician of looking for votes through the late artist’s name.

Mampintsha, real name Mandla Maphumulo died on Christmas Eve last year after suffering a minor stroke after attending a gig in Durban. He was a leading member of Big Nuz, an award-winning Kwaito trio that hails from Umlazi. While Kiernan ‘AKA’ Forbes was murdered in Durban earlier this year.

ALSO READ: KZN government denies it paid R50m for Mampintsha funeral

McKenzie’s false information

Leading up to Mampintsha’s burial, the KZN provincial government announced that it would be assisting with the burial of the muso. But post burial in January, the provincial government denied it paid R50 million for the musician’s funeral.

The government’s provincial spokesperson, Lennox Mabaso said R320 000 was given to the family by the provincial government.

R170 000 of this came from the office of the Premier, R50 000 from the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, while the remaining R100 000 was provided by the eThekwini metro.

“The falsehood being peddled about R50 million is nothing more than a figment of imagination by those who are morally and spiritually bankrupt.

“We further wish to appeal to the public to be circumspect and not abuse the power of social media by spreading false information,” Mabaso said.

Although murdered in Durban, AKA was very much a Gauteng resident and to this, the province’s Premier Panyaza Lesufi publicly asked for the slain rapper to get a state funeral but was denied by the Presidency.

“But the discretion is purely on the president and it is a decision which all of us ought to respect,” said the premier’s spokesperson, Vuyo Mhaga.

AKA’s coffin was instead draped with the country’s flag and AKA’s family was provided a gravesite at Heroes Acre Cemetery. The cemetery is the final resting place of historic figures such as Andries Pretorius, Paul Kruger and Hendrik Verwoerd.

Types of funerals

According to the Official Funeral Policy manual of 2016, there are three main types of funerals namely; the State Funeral, Official Funeral and Provincial Official Funeral.

The Provincial Official Funeral is divided into a Provincial Official Funeral Category 1 which is for the Speaker of the Legislature and Members of the Executive Committee.

The Provincial Funeral Category 2 is accorded to the Deputy Speaker of the Legislature. Distinguished persons can be granted a special Provincial Official Funeral Category. The Premier of a province sends a request to the President for consideration if they feel a resident of the province deserves such recognition.

The Citizen reached out to the Patriotic Alliance for comment but they had not responded at the time of publishing.

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