Star defies death threats
2003-05-05 07:34
Mandla Mkhize & Mandla Zulu
Johannesburg - Despite the increasing danger to his life posed by fans who have violently tried to unmask him, kwaito star Mzekezeke has vowed he will never take off his increasingly controversial mask.
This danger was once again apparent at the Durban Institute of Technology (DIT) last Saturday, when angry students attempted to take off his mask saying Mzekezeke was not as fat as the man on stage. But it was indeed Mzekezeke.
The crowd threw missiles at him, forcing the star to run for cover. Student representative council members calmed the students before Mzekezeke was allowed to return to the stage.
Bleeding from his elbow after he was struck by a bottle, Mzekezeke remained defiant.
In his typical township lingo, he said: "Ku right vele sik'jwayele lokhu, sihlale siguqa njalo." (It's fine, I'm used to this, we always go down on our knees).
The crowd responded by hurling objects at him again. He fled the stage.
Mzekezeke had arrived in the early hours of the morning in a convoy of cars that spun around in car-hijacking fashion.
Marketing tool
Speaking to City Press, Mzekezeke said the DIT incident was merely the act of "drunks" who had earlier planned to take off his mask. He said the mask was a marketing tool and represented his township style.
There have been a number of similar incidents in the past where people, not convinced the person entertaining them was the real Mzekezeke, have attacked the star, demanding he remove the mask.
During the Easter Festival in Pietermaritzburg last month, Mzekezeke was humiliated as one of his fans tried to unmask him.
Popular Durban disc jockey Siyanda Ngcobo said Mzekezeke should find a way for people to identify him because his mask was endangering his life.
"People think he is taking them for a ride and that is very dangerous. Recently another man purporting to be Mzekezeke was performing in Pietersburg while Mzekezeke was performing at Rivets hotel in Durban," said Ngcobo.
But Mzekezeke and his manager Thembinkosi "TK" Nciza have vowed the kwaito star will not remove his mask.
Proving costly?
"The people of KwaZulu-Natal are the only people who have a problem with my mask. I want to make it clear I will never take off my mask because it is my marketing strategy. I am wearing it to represent the township people," said Mzekezeke.
Mzekezeke's recent CD, Sguqa Ngamadolo, has sold more than 150 000 copies since it was released in December.
However, Mzekezeke's famous or infamous mask is proving costly in other ways too. He conceded to City Press this week he had been forced by banking institutions, because of their strict security, to take off the mask when he enters their premises.
"When I go to banks I take off the mask because banking staff do not know it's me - Mzekezeke of kwaito," he said.
He has also had some run-ins with airport security guards who demand to see his identity document.
Although Nciza said Mzekezeke does not experience problems at airports because he does the bookings, Mzekezeke's close associates say he does not fly because he refuses to take off his mask.