Mourners salute David Masondo (gallery)

Masondo, the lead singer of the traditional music group The Soul Brothers, died on Sunday in a Johannesburg hospital. He was 67. He died after he had admitted after complaining of exhaustion.

“Despite his burning passion for music, he always managed to find time for his children. He almost made it a point that they received the love of a parent,” the singer’s friend and neighbour Dumezweni Mcoyi, said.

Mcoyi, who was one of the speakers during Masondo’s memorial service at the Hammersdale Elangeni College attended by more than a thousand people, said Masondo’s love for children went beyond the singer’s family.

“He also showed the same love that displayed to his kids to his neighbours’ children – he was such a caring person,” he said.

Joy Mbewana, from the Creative Workers Union of SA (CWUSA) said the union was proud of the way Masondo had conducted himself as a musician.

“He brought back our dignity and dispelled the perceptions that musicians were irresponsible people who misused their money,” she said.

“He was a shining example of how responsible musicians should live. Today as I speak on behalf of musicians, I’m filled with pride because I’m speaking on behalf of someone who had been a role model.”

Another memorial serivice was held at the Bassline in Newtown, Johannesburg, where people paid their respects to Masondo.

Masondo started his career doing gigs around the townships of Durban in the 70s.

In 1974 Masondo co-founded The Soul Brothers – a group that went on to become a household name within the African continent.

Considered a pioneer in the Zulu soul music genre, the group went on to release more than 30 albums and sold millions of copies throughout Africa.

KwaZulu-Natal Social development MEC, Weziwe Thusi, who was representing KZN premier Senzo Mchunu, said the province was proud to have produced an outstanding person such as Masondo.

“We are not here to mourn but to celebrate David’s life – he lived life to the fullest and fulfilled all the tasks that God had given to him,” she said.

Artists, Thusi said, should draw lessons from Masondo’s well lived life.

“The reason why some many people had come for his memorial service today is testimony to the good life that Masondo lived.

Masondo, who is survived by twenty children, will be buried at the Hammersdale cemetery on Sunday. – cliven@citizen.co.za