South Africa says goodbye to another amazing artist. Mbongeni Ngema, a respected local playwright and actor at 68, died in a car crash on Wednesday night.
It’s reported that he was on his way back from a funeral in Lusikisiki, Eastern Cape, when the accident happened. He was a passenger in one of the cars.
Before it was officially announced that he had died, musician Zakes Bantwini shared his feelings on X.
Even though Bantwini didn't explicitly name anyone, users on X had a sense that something significant had occurred. South Africa has unfortunately experienced a string of losses in its artistic and cultural circles recently.
And a tweet like this can easily prompt thoughts of, “Who is it this time?”
@ZakesBantwiniSA posted: “Noooo man not again 💔 🕊️ 😢.”
Noooo man not again 💔 🕊️ 😢
— Zakes Bantwini (@ZakesBantwiniSA) December 27, 2023
@tahbryce commented: “Tweet is useless without context.”
@sheldon_cameron wrote: “I love your music and I think you cool Bhut' Zakhele kodwa we need you to stop doing this because now we are left to wonder who you are talking about. It’s not cool at all.”
@Ihhashi_Turkei anxiously asked: “Oh no, who have we lost now?”
While another X user who had enough, commented: “Next year obe better person, tell us why you say post broken hearts cause we are tired of asking what happened or what’s wrong.”
Next year obe better person, tell us why you say post broken hearts cause we are tired of asking what happened or what’s wrong 🫠
— Mankhumiše 🤍 (@Ms_Logical) December 27, 2023
@unathi_plaatjie suggested Bantwini was doing it for attention: “It seems like your motive for posting, Zakes, was simply to be the first one to share the news, rather than actually showing any concern about it.”
While @Kim_Laura1 wrote: “Why did you tweet this if you’re gate keeping? So le wena you suffer from breaking the news first syndrome and gate keeping celebrity deaths? 😳”
Why did you tweet this if you’re gate keeping?
— Kim Laura (@Kim_Laura1) December 27, 2023
So le wena you suffer from breaking the news first syndrome and gate keeping celebrity deaths? 😳