Brenda's house repossessed
2007-06-17 17:18
Johannesburg - The late queen of pop, Brenda Fassie, must be turning in her grave.
Her house has been abandoned and is being repossessed. Her only child, Bongani, seems to have fallen on hard times and is squatting in an office with other struggling artists.
The 22-year-old, who has released two albums, Makana Square and Jozi, and drives a BMW 3 Series, however, lives in offices owned by his record label Ghetto Ruff.
The offices next to the SABC headquarters in Auckland Park, are converted to sleeping quarters at night.
Bongani moved out of his mother's house some time ago, leaving it to his unemployed aunt, Lindi - Brenda's younger sister.
Lindi has however left Johannesburg and has returned to Cape Town.
The house, which is worth about R1 million, is being repossessed by the city council due to a long overdue water and electricity bill estimated to be about R200 000. Neither Lindi nor Bongani could confirm this figure.
Chicco Twala, who once managed Brenda's affairs, confirmed that the house was being repossessed and said there was nothing he could do to salvage the situation.
Shocked when visiting house
Twala said: "There is no outstanding bond; I paid cash when I bought it for Brenda. It's amazing that the people who pretended to care for Brenda and took her money are not intervening."
He said he would not help Bongani because there was bad blood between them.
"If Bongani had not treated me badly, I would have helped save the house, but I have decided to stay away from Brenda's affairs."
He said he had been shocked when he visited the house recently.
"I found that Lindi was not coping. I had to fly her back to Cape Town because she did not have food and there was no water or electricity," he said.
Contacted in Cape Town, Lindi blamed the situation on Bongani's manager and Ghetto Ruff CEO, Lance Stehr.
Lindi said: "Lance took Bongani away from the family, thinking that we wanted his money. He is cutting me off from Bongani.
"If it was not for Lance, this would not be happening."
Asked for comment, (Lance) Stehr said: "I did not take him away from his family - he chose to come and live here. It's amazing that people are blaming me for their own problems, especially since the executor (of the estate) is supposed to be handling this mess."