The life of Bulelwa Mkutukana was celebrated at a memorial service held at Rhema bible church on Thursday afternoon. Picture: Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspapers.
News of Zahara’s death has left an indefinable mark on the local music scene.
As her body finally arrived in the Eastern Cape last Saturday, scores of mourners could be seen gathering around the coffin as they bid their final farewells.
The singer, real name Bulelwa Mkutukana, was laid to rest in her hometown of East London, while industry peers paid tribute to her legacy at a memorial in Johannesburg last week.
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Famous faces such as Zahara’s former label boss TK Nciza and DJ Sbu, Lusanda Mbane and Nomcebo Zikode were also in attendance.
Describing the 36-year-old’s final moments, Zahara’s sister Lumka Mkutukana said “they witnessed the machines signal her taking her last breath”.
Despite her meteoric rise to fame, the ‘Phendula’ hitmaker was always open with her fans about her financial woes.
In May last year, she pleaded with Kaizer Motaung, owner of football club Kaizer Chiefs to sponsor her concert so that she could raise funds to save her Roodepoort mansion.
The star defaulted on her bond instalments and subsequently her house was set to be auctioned. After negotiations with Nedbank, the bank held off on the auction.
Due to a massive cash injection of R100,000 from a mystery donor, the ‘Loliwe’ singer was able to save her home from going under the hammer.
That mystery donor has now come forward to reveal during an exclusive interview with Sunday World that they indeed provided the large sum to the singer.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) “silently paid R100,000” into Zahara’s home loan account to clear up the arrears.
EFF spokesperson Sinawo Thambo confirmed to the publication they helped the singer.
“We are not in the business of boasting about the assistance we have given to our people but we can confirm that we have helped Zahara because she was very close to our hearts,” he said.
IOL Entertainment