The Pietermaritzburg family of KwaZulu-Natal’s “resurrected” maskandi musician, Mgqumeni Khumalo, has disowned him and wants nothing more to do with him.
Sibongile KaMajola Gcabashe said the last time she saw her nephew Sibusiso John Dlamini-Gcabashe, 29, was when his identity document was issued to him 10 years ago.
He left home soon after and told Sibongile that he was going to look for employment in Johannesburg.
Last month Dlamini-Gcabashe popped up again, this time in media reports that he is facing charges of fraud and perjury at the Nqutu Magistrate’s Court after he claimed to be maskandi artist Khulekani Kwakhe Mgqumeni Khumalo, who died in a car accident in December 2009.
He was buried in January 2010 in Mpofana, a rural area in Nqutu, in northern KZN.
Dlamini-Gcabashe’s claims made national headlines as fans flocked from as far as Pretoria and Mpumalanga to see for themselves whether Khumalo had returned from the dead.
Gcabashe was convinced that Dlamini-Gcabashe had died after he left home years ago, until she saw his pictures and claims splashed in the media.
“I want absolutely nothing to do with him. He has abused me emotionally. He has not come home for the past 10 years and now I am seeing him all over the media. He knows where his home is, but he chose another family. I am not going to attend his court case or even visit him in jail if he is sentenced. He must not come back to my home,” she said angrily.
A teary eyed Gcabashe said she faced challenges while trying to raise Dlamini-Gcabashe and his four siblings.
His mother abandoned them when they were young and their father passed away and Gcabashe decided to raise them as her own children.
“He left school at a very young age. When he was old enough to get an ID I accompanied him to make an application. I was only trying to make him a better person. I struggled to raise them, but today he has not even brought me a loaf of bread. People would spot him in Johannesburg, Durban and other places, but he has never bothered to come home,” said Gcabashe.
She said Nqutu police had visited her to take a statement about Dlamini-Gcabashe.
Police also give her updates on the court proceedings.
Last week, when Dlamini-Gcabashe made a second appearance in court, the state suggested that he be admitted to Fort Napier Hospital, a mental institution in Pietermaritzburg.
“I am not going to set foot in that hospital. Dlamini-Gcabashe is not insane. He is the only person who would be able to say why he did what he did. While growing up he was a problematic child. What more can I say, because the fingerprints have verified that he is not Mgqumeni and clearly he gave the police my address to find me. He got himself into this and now he must get himself out. I don’t even want to get involved,” Gcabashe said.
The matter was adjourned to March 6.