South African president Cyril Ramaphosa’s tribute to the late Mbongeni Ngema seemingly left his countrymen unimpressed, with some of them accusing him of not having shared a moment with artists.
In a lengthy tweet on his official X account, president Ramaphosa shared the photograph of the late playwright, as well as some kind words about him, including his contributions to the arts and South African society.
He pointed out how Ngema’s creations honoured the resilience of the South African people who were resisting apartheid decades ago. He might be dead, but his memory lives on
Ngema died recently in a car accident that left the whole nation shocked. It is just days to the New Year, and of course, the dream of most people is to make it to 2024. But life had other plans, tragically.
For President Ramaphosa, it was to have been another moment of not only condoling with the family of the bereaved but also showing compassion and highlighting the important contributions of the late artist.
I offer my sincere condolences to the family, friends and associates of our cultural stalwart, Mbongeni Ngema, who has lost his life in a vehicle accident.
His masterfully creative narration of our liberation struggle honoured the humanity of oppressed South Africans and exposed… pic.twitter.com/31oLnllAoL
— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) December 28, 2023
However, South Africans had other ideas and were not impressed with his actions. Maybe, a much deeper interest in the arts and artists will change that. The coming days will tell soon enough.
