‘Nalingi’ hitmaker strikes right note
“My dad did not help mom financially” Manu happy that SA is embracing him
Many women in South Africa can relate to having to haul their children’s fathers to maintenance court to get them to support their children.
But have you ever wondered how the children in question feel about it?
“It made me feel like my father was paying me to be his son,” says Skeem Saam actor Gift Mokhampanyane, who has experienced being a “maintenance baby”.
Mokhampanyane, who plays Fanie Maserumule on the popular SABC1 soapie, says he grew up with his father being in and out of his life; at some point he stopped showing up and he had to grow up fatherless. “I am part of the statistics I guess; I am one of those young men who grew up without a father,” he says.
“It has really impacted me a lot. I sometimes wonder how my life would have turned out had he been a constant fixture in my life.”
Mokhampanyane, 27, says his father’s family never liked his mom but preferred his father’s other baby mama.
“It was a constant struggle for my mom to ingratiate me into his family. She was never allowed in his family home but she would always drop me off to visit over weekends and school holidays.
“He also didn’t help her much financially to look after me. It reached a point for her when she had no other recourse but to take him to court.
“When he finally paid for maintenance, which was an inconsistent R400 that would occasionally trickle down to R200, my mother would insist that he spend time with me and not just support me financially.
“Initially he tried. He would pick me up for outings and buy me clothes and take me to Chicken Licken.
“Then when I joined the Soul Buddyz [children’s educational TV programme] cast in grade 9, he stopped maintaining me or showing up. I guess he thought I was rolling in money now that I was on TV.”
The baby-faced actor said the last time he saw his dad was when he was in hospital.
“I was in grade 10 and had to have a delicate operation. I woke up from surgery and I saw him. He said he had ‘heard that you were dying’ and he came to check up on me. That was the last time he showed face in my life.”
Mokhampanyane soldiered on without his father’s presence in his life and cracked it on local TV including presenting another youth programme, YoTV.
He joined the cast of Skeem Saam in 2014 and says he gets irritated when he hears people say that his father brags about him being on TV.
“My message to all who are going through that experience is that if I could overcome the rejection, you certainly can.” Nalingi hitmaker Manu WorldStar says the now popular song was a mistake, noting he was in studio recording a rap song and struggling to get it perfect until the runaway hit happened.
“During a break we regrouped. The producer then started messing around with beats when this particular one came on. I loved it and started improvising. I sang to it about what was on my heart thinking of my girl. Everyone in studio loved it,” he says.
Although the song is dedicated to his girlfriend, he said it extends to all African women.
The rapper, whose real name is Emmanuel Mumbili Mutendji, says the song was originally recorded in December last year but only dropped in July this year.
The Afro-beat song has since gained traction and has topped the charts across various genres such as pop, hip-hop and RnB.
It spent two consecutive weeks on the 5FM Top 10 at 10 Pop Chart; was number one on 5FM’s The Stir Up Top 5 Hip Hop Chart; and was number one on the Gagasi FM Top 10 RnB Countdown Chart.
“It reached a point for my mom when she had no other recourse but to take my father to maintenance court”
It followed with a numberthree spot on Metro FM Top 40 Chart, number one on YFM Bomb Chart, number two on the BBC 1 Xtra Top 5 AfroBoss Count Down Chart in the UK and at number four on the RAMS Top 100 Chart (fourth most played track by any artist on radio right now).
Born to Congolese parents in South Africa, the 23-year-old said the song means “I Love” in his home language, Lingala.
He says he has had many hits but it’s Nalingi that caught people’s attention and propelled his fame. “I sing about ‘big body like Quantum’ because the women in Africa are not the skinny type that receive all the attention. I love how African women look and need them to embrace it and love themselves too. Just like I love the flower in my life.”
He is also ecstatic about finally being embraced by South Africans. “Growing up I was angry. I was never accepted by the people of the country I was born in. Because I don’t speak Zulu or Xhosa, I was frowned upon by my peers.
“And then on the other side, my own cousins and Congolese people did not accept me because I don’t speak French well. It was a struggle, but I have finally embraced my circumstances and was able to find a home in the hip-hop community,” he said.