Family seeks to exhume Ngema’s body

JOHANNESBURG - The family of the late film producer and internationally renowned playwright Mbongeni Ngema has started a legal process to exhume his remains and bury him in the cemetery of his choice.

The shocking tidbits were revealed by the ‘Sarafina’ movie producer’s close associates, who preferred not to be named for fear of reprisals.

The musician, who died in a car crash on his way to a funeral in the Eastern Cape in January, was buried at Chesterville Heroes’ Acre in Red Hill Cemetery, Durban, on January 5, at the behest of his disputed legal wife, Mpumelelo Gumede.

Now, said the associate, Ngema’s family has taken the decision to exhume his remains and bury him at eMfana, where he wished to be buried among his ancestors.

The decision, said the associate, came after the family received Ngema’s marriage certificate from the Department of Home Affairs, which states that he died single.

Sunday World has been seen the certificate, which the family had submitted to its lawyers, but could not independently verify its authenticity.

The family, said the associate, also submitted to its legal team a song titled ‘Mhla Ngifayo’ (When I Die), which the revered playwright recorded with the music group, Baobab

Sisters, before his untimely death, announcing his wish to be buried in eMfana.

Some of the lyrics of the song say: ‘Ngosuku engofa (when I die) ngalo/ ningisize nibongigcwaba (please bury me) eMfana kwaNgema eNhlwathi/ningsize ningakushintshi loko noma ngabe ngingasekho kodwa ningakushintshi loko (do not ever deviate from this)’.

The plan to exhume him did not come as a surprise because the Ngema family, supported by his customary wife, Yoland ‘Wanda’ Moncho, squabbled with Gumede after she, together with the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government, took the decision to lay him to rest in Red Hill.