We are traumatised and still in shock, says Joe Mafela’s family

The family of late legend Joe Mafela has thanked South Africans for the messages of condolences they have been receiving since his passing on Saturday night.

The family’s spokesperson, Milly Mulelu, said the messages have made the family realise they shared him with South Africans and that he was a great entertainer. Reiterating close friend Lillian Dube’s words, Mulelu said Mafela was a happy man.

The family, however, is struggling to come to terms with his passing, as his passing was unexpected.

“We are all traumatised and really still in huge shock because he was not sick. When a person is not sick, you don’t expect to get news like this that they’ve passed on. You kind of can work through it if you know they’ve been sick, and you know it’s imminent. So we’re really finding it difficult to accept that he has passed on,” she told SABC.

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She added: “We would like to thank South Africa for all the messages of hope, condolences, those phone calls. We realise that we really shared him with the rest of South Africa. He was really a happy man. He was an entertainer, he has been in the entertainment industry for over 40 years. We share the loss with the whole of South Africa.

The entertainer died just before 10pm on Saturday in an accident on the M1 north between the Oxford and Houghton off-ramps in Johannesburg.

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