Edward Tsumele

Edward Tsumele

Music icon and cultural activist Jabu Khanyile was laid to rest at the Avalon Cemetery in Soweto on Friday.

Buried among the country's luminaries at Heroes' Acre, Khanyile's funeral was festive as the country's top artists arrived in large numbers and in their luxury cars to say farewell to one of their own.

Among those were accomplished singer Yvonne Chaka Chaka, pioneering township dancer and choreographer Nomsa Manaka, pop star Ringo Madlingozi and globe-trotting reggae star Lucky Dube.

Because of Khanyile's religious beliefs, his was an African traditional religion, the Shembe church congregation dominated the proceedings at the burial service at Grace Bible Church and did not resemble a funeral service at all.

In fact it was a celebration of a life that had been lived large and one that South Africa loved, as musicians such as Khanyile's former band Bayete, Deborah Fraser, Pastor Benjamin Dube and Vuyo Mokoena, among others, entertained on stage.