Why Robbie Malinga’s R500k tombstone is making headlines

Robbie Malinga was laid to rest at the beginning of 2018, however, a great deal of talk surrounded a statue of him which has been removed after coming under a lot of scrutiny.

The late, great, Robbie Malinga will be remembered fondly by many South Africans who enjoyed his work for decades. When someone as famous as he was passes away, it’s normal to expect them to be honoured with a monumental tombstone when they are laid to rest.

Over the years we’ve seen some pretty grand designs for gravestones, and the seven-ton, R500 000 monument for Robbie Malinga is the latest to grab headlines. The effigy was unveiled at the Westpark Cemetery in Johannesburg on the 2nd of January, but it has since been removed after it drew plenty of criticism from thousands of South Africans on social media.

The biggest complaint was that the tombstone looked nothing like the singer, and the outcry was so loud that the CEO of Bataung Memorials (the company tasked with designing the monument) spoke out:

“We have seen the feedback on social media and have decided to remove the tombstone and redesign it based on that. People have pointed out that the features on the statue do not resemble Robbie 100%.”

The complaints from the public were not necessarily shared by Malinga’s family members. The family publicist, TK Nciza, spoke to Tshisa Live and said that the tombstone design was not their primary concern.

“People will have different opinions about different things. For us the most important thing is that our brother is resting in peace and that the family is able to go on. If he [Khitsane] wants to fix it and thinks he can do a better job, then great, but we are not stressed about it.”

Do you think the tombstone above looks anything like Robbie Malinga?

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