Colourful Iko Mash loved deeply
Make-up artist’s heart also hurt easily, say friends
Born: May 31 1975
Died: July 21 Funeral: Tomorrow, at 8am at Thaba Jabula Secondary hall in Klipspruit, Soweto Burial: Westpark Cemetery Stylish make-up artist Iko Mash died last Friday after a long battle with cancer, which had progressed to stage three.
Mash dreamt of one day owning her own cosmetics range.
Friends who lived and worked with her described her as a colourful and very spiritual person.
She was known for calling everyone tsala, which is Tswana for my friend. She was a people’s person but was sometimes misunderstood because she was very frank, claimed some of her closest friends.
Mash died while living at the house of a close friend, Generations: The Legacy actress Manaka Ranaka, in Leondale, Ekurhuleni,
Lebo Keswa, another close friend, said Mash wore her heart on her sleeve and called a spade a spade.
“Iko could go to a shisanyama, sit on a crate of beers and interact with everyone.
“She loved too much but got disappointed very easily as she was very true and loyal to those around her,” Keswa said.
According to Afro-jazz singer, Phinda Matlala, Mash showed interest in the beauty industry at a young age.
Matlala knew Mash since she was 13 and had lived with the departed make-up artist at her flat in Joubert Park, Johannesburg, in the early 2000s. She described Mash as a very spiritual person who loved God.
Mash started school at Tsietsi Mashinini Primary School in Meadowlands, Soweto.
She matriculated at Westbury High School in Westbury, Johannesburg.
As a make-up artist, Mash worked with a number of celebrities including Lira, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Eryka Badhu, among others.
Mash was born Billy Mothola Emmanuel Mashiloane in Soweto in 1975. Following a “transgender transition”, she renamed herself Iko Mash.
The funeral service will be held at Thaba Jabula Secondary School in Soweto.