Five male suspects have been brought forward in connection to the murder of South African reggae star, Lucky Dube.
The singer was shot dead in what seems like a ‘botched up carjacking’ in Rosettenville, a suburb in Johanesburg, last week Thursday. The singer is said to have dropped off his children at a relative’s home when he was attacked.
The death has been called ’senseless and reckless’ only serving to highlight just how dangerous the country is with figures from the South African Police Service showing that from April 2006 to March 2007, more than 19,000 South Africans were murdered. As Senegalese superstar Youssou N’dour put it: “It is not the first time that there are killings (of this kind) over there, well-known personalities or artists,” Dube’s murder poses “a big question which South African authorities must provide answers to,” he said.
South African president Thabo Mbeki described the reggae pioneer as “an outstanding South African”, adding that his country must “make a commitment that we shall continue to act together as a people to confront this terrible scourge of crime, which has taken the lives of too many of our people and does so every day.’ Radio stations in South Africa were bombarded with callers leaving tearful messages.
The 43 year old musician became well known for his criticism of Apartheid through his music. He will be missed, as his 25 year long career had endeared him to fans all over Africa as well as globally. How sadly ironic that he should die at the hands of violence when that is exactly what he stood against.
He is survived by his wife Zanele and seven children.
1 Comment
October 28, 2007 at 3:36 am
What a tragedy!!
Meanwhile, the conspiracy theorists have already been at it. Emails circulating the net are accusing the West in the slaying of the legend in a bid to paint Africa in bad light with the coming of the SA world cup!
On the streets and the net many are calling for the return of the death penalty in South Africa. Certainly, crime and violent crime is on the rise in SA, however, the death penalty hardly touches at the core of addressing this.