On the Monday following the previous article, there seemed to be even more confusion about the identity of the ‘Zombie Maskandi’. Here’s an account of the confusion, from Isolezwe
Bhova’s fans have been deceived
Mdu Ncalane
Isolezwe, 6th February 2012, page 2
Crowds of Mgqumeni’s fans, lovers of Maskandi music, and members of the community wanting to see the ‘risen-dead-man’ for themselves have been greatly intrigued by a man who claimed to be the one called ‘ibhova likadikadika’.
Guys who sang with him in his band for a long time have raised the alarm, saying that people are being messed around. His uncle’s people of the Mseleku clan in Mooi River, who saw him for the first time yesterday, are also saying that people have been deceived.
Mgqumeni’s cousin, Mr Sakhiseni Mseleku, said that a case has been opened at Nquthu police station.
“There is a carelessness which we have observed in the ways things are being done, and we have seen it for a while. There are many things which we have asked and to which we have had no answer. Our opening of a case has been done so that if there is something criminal being done in Bhova’s name it can come to an end,” said Mseleku.
The huge crowd of people from all over Zululand crowding around the house ended up breaking out into fights and pushing. The police, failing to clear the crowd using a baton charge, ended up using water to disperse them.
After reports that the man had tried to flee on Saturday night but had been caught by the police dog unit, they appeared with him in their armoured vehicle. Shortly thereafter, while the police were still trying to sort things out so that they could come out, some people began to take pictures with their cellphones. The cops then opened the turret of the Casper and the young man whom is said to be Mgqumeni, wearing a woollen hat, emerged – at which point the crowd erupted. Some were so happy to see him that they started wailing. He then took off his hat and people were in a state of confusion seeing his forehead and his hairline. They looked at the gold teeth which he had, not remembering if the Bhova they knew had similar teeth. The way that he waved his hands also confused them, with some saying this was Mgqumeni – but when he was smiling they lost a lot of hope. According to those who knew him, his voice was not even remotely the same as that of Kwakhe Khumalo-Mseleku. The way he held himself also lowered his fans’ hopes greatly regarding whether Mgqumeni had actually risen from the dead.
This man told the crowds that he had been in the wilderness for a long time, eating mud mixed with milk.
“As you can see my face has changed, which is an effect of the lifestyle I was living. There has been nonsense talked about Mgqumeni – he never died because here he is in front of you all, alive. I want perhaps that some girls go and dig up my grave so that it can be clear who it is that’s buried there,” said this man, repeating that the life he’d been living was very hard.
He said that even now it is difficult to travel because there are some people who call him ‘a ghost’.
Applause erupted from some, and he promised them that he would still play the guitar as he used to. He then thanked Shembe, saying that he was the one who had come and freed him.
“What has been done to Mgqumeni is serious, but I thank you. Mgqumeni died for his music. I ask that all my brothers out there pray for me to return to the way I was,” said this man.
When you look closely at the man, he’s very thin (as said previously) but he seems to have been quite well-built at some point in his life. His thinness isn’t fully apparent on his body, because he’s wearing a bullet-proof vest on his chest and back.
A spokesperson for the funeral company who interred Mgqumeni, Mr Thulani Ngcobo, said that they have been told nothing as the company who interred him, repeating that it was him they buried.
“We have only heard from people on the radio and in the papers. Nobody has followed up and spoken to us. And we are not allowed to see him. What irks us is that there have been slanderous accusations about people at the company bewitching him,” said Ngcobo. Commenting on the pictures of the man, Ngcobo refused to say anything.
This Mgqumeni revealed yesterday that just before he died he had seen a red ox in front of him, and that this would have been the end of him. “When I told my mates with whom I was travelling about this they said ‘you see now you’re starting to be crazy’, and I kept quiet – but I knew what was going on.”