This year sure is a never-ending horror flick. Mzansi has been hit with another blow after reports surfaced that veteran broadcaster Bob Mabena passed away on Monday.
Bob Mabena has passed away: What’s the cause of death?
Details of his death are still very much sketchy. However, as reported by EWN, the chairman of Power FM, Given Mkhari, confirmed that he was right by his side when Mabena took his last breath.
“He was admitted to hospital on Saturday and was discharged this morning (Monday). On his way home, he experienced more pain and they went back to the hospital. When I arrived at hospital, he was in ICU. Mrs Mabena was called into the room when they pronounced him dead.” he said.
Who was Bob Mabena?
Mabena is one of the greatest entertainers to ever grace our screens and that is an undeniable fact. At the age of 51, he has done it all.
The mid-to-late 1990s is considered as the golden era of South African urban entertainment and Mabena was very much in the mix of things.
The 51-year-old rose to fame as the golden voice of radio in the late 1980s, taking over the airwaves in Pretoria with nothing to his name but four paper bags of luggage and a dream brought on by the impending end to apartheid.
Mabena will be remembered as a gentle soul with a daring heart. Lest we forget, the media frenzy he caused when he crashed a racing car at 240km/hr in a hairpin bend.
Or, better yet, the fact that he’s been immortalised as the man who turned down Brenda Fassie’s marriage proposal, only to be feted by Miriam Makeba.
Mzansi pays tribute to fallen broadcasting icon
Mzansi was taken aback by such untimely news. Alas, such is life and while the rest of us still need time to process this news, some took to social media to pay tribute to the fallen icon.
These are some of the tributes we picked out: