Longwe Twala, the son of 80s bubble gum musician and music producer Sello ‘Chicco’ Twala. Pictures: Gallo Images
Renowned music mogul Sello “Chicco” Twala’s son Longwe is back in the media spotlight with a warrant of arrest hanging over his head this weekend.
The new twist in his unfolding theft trial comes after he failed to appear at the Randburg Magistrate’s Court in Johannesburg on Friday morning.
Longwe and his younger brother Sello found themselves behind bars last month after their famous father opened a case of housebreaking and robbery against his sons.
At the time, the musician and businessman told City Press that Longwe and his brother “have been stealing from me for a long time”.
Hence, I decided that enough was enough. Let them rot in jail.”
Twala accuses Longwe, 39, and Sello, 34, of breaking into his Fourways home and stealing music equipment and other household items worth more than R200,000.
The incident occurred while the music promotor was on a business trip in the United States.
“I can confirm that when I was in the USA, my son, Longwe, and his brother, Sello, colluded and stole my equipment in the studio,” Twala told the media after his sons’ first court appearance.
“Longwe, whom I chased away a while ago because of his drug addiction, jumped the high walls and broke into my studio and stole my stuff.”
Sello, however, was released after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) declared that there was insufficient evidence to link him to the crime.
At his bail hearing on 25 September, Longwe was released on a warning after his lawyers argued he was “not a flight risk and determined to attend all court proceedings”.
The then presiding magistrate, Abdul Khan, warned Twala’s son that he will face immediate imprisonment if he was found in violation of his bail conditions.
According to City Press, it is alleged that Longwe stole a phone from his sister this week. He stayed with his sister, as his bail conditions required.
The sister is also apparently planning to open a case of theft.
His release conditions also included him staying free from drugs and alcohol for the duration of the trial.
Speaking to eNCA after Longwe’s first court appearance, Twala said he is convinced that prison was the the best place for his troubled son who is no stranger to the long arm of the law.
Twala stated that Longwe had been battling drug addiction since he was 17.
He went on to explain that he had booked his son in at several rehabilitation centres over the years.
“He has been to rehab more than 30 times; I have even lost count.”
According to him, Longwe’s drug problem turned him into a thief.
“I had to [lay a case]. As a parent, I can’t just watch my son going astray,.. stealing, especially from family,” he said.
“I’ve been giving him several warnings, but my son does not want to repent – doesn’t want to change.
“So that’s why I took this decision that the best place for him is maybe prison. Maybe he will come back a better person,” Twala explained.
This is not the first time Twala had his son arrested.
In 2020, he handed Longwe over to the police at Diepkloof police station for allegedly stealing a cellphone.
A video of Twala lambasting his son at the police station went viral after doing the rounds on social media.
In the video clip, the fuming veteran music producer says he wishes it was Longwe who killed slain soccer star Senzo Meyiwa so that his son could rot in jail.
The 27-year-old Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana footballer was gunned down in an alleged botched robbery on 26 October 2014 at the home of singer Kelly Khumalo’s mother, Ntombi, in Vosloorus, east of Johannesburg.
Longwe and his then-girlfriend, R&B singer-songwriter and Kelly’s sister, Zandile “Zandie” Gumede, were watching an “English soccer game” along with Kelly, her mom and some friends of Senzo when the intruders allegedly entered the house.
In a 2022 interview with Newzroom Afrika, Twala claimed that despite the fact that Longwe and Kelly -who was Senzo’s girlfriend at the time – know who killed the soccer player, they have kept mum over the years about who pulled the trigger.
“I think the people who know the truth, it’s my son, Kelly Khumalo, and the rest of the guys who were there,” he told news anchor Xoli Mngambi.
“They know who killed Senzo, my son knows, Kelly knows, everybody knows.”
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