Friends, family and industry colleagues gathered at the Protea South Multipurpose Hall to bid farewell to music icon, Winnie Khumalo.
Veteran singer and dancer was buried at Westpark Cemetery after a dignified service. During the service, the government was mostly called out for not supporting musicians.
Veteran musician and producer, Chicco Twala who was among the speakers at the funeral service said that the music industry did not help Winnie, as she needed medical aid.
“Winnie did not deserve to die the way she did. She suffered alone. Rethabile suffered alone. I saw Winnie two days before she passed on, what I saw was not okay. The likes of Winnie and many of our late musicians who were instrumentally generating millions in our sector deserve better. I want our government to do something about that,” he said.
Winnie’s close friend, Sabelo ‘Ntombeningi’ Sithole who was the programme director at the funeral service banned ANC officials from speaking at the service, citing that they were not there when they were needed the most.
Ntombeningi said that they were on a video call on the day Winnie died. “Two hours later, I got a call to say I should rush home; Winnie was not okay, she was throwing up blood. We had the style of taking each other’s pictures during a video call, and our conversations were very long. In English, they say you don’t know something is valuable until it’s gone, now I feel it,” said Ntombeningi.
Speaking to the Daily Sun before the funeral service, Rethabile said she is determined to honour her mother’s legacy by fulfilling her dreams and wishes. She also shared how she finds strength in the lessons her mother instilled in her.
“I’m just trying my best to be strong because she always taught me to stay strong no matter the situation. There’s nothing I can do to bring her back, though I wish I could. The least I can do is to give her a beautiful send-off and carry on her legacy,” she said.
Rethabile took to her Instagram page after the funeral service to share a mini clip of her and her mother. She captioned her post: “Your send off was beautiful mom. I love you always.”
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Also see: Watch: Winnie Khumalo remembered in memorial service | Bona Magazine
