Celebrating what Dube was robbed of

15 March 2012 - 10:37
By Sbusiso Shongwe

Daughter to honour Reggae star

RISING soul and reggae music star Nkulee Dube is still mourning the untimely death of her father at the hands of would-be hijackers in 2007.

In 2009 Lucky Dube's killers, Sfiso Mhlanga, Ludwa Gxowa and Mbuti Mabe, were sentenced to life imprisonment.

Nkulee, who is due to perform on the Town Square in Gold Reef City for the Human Rights Day celebration on March 21, has said she would be using the event to celebrate what her father was robbed of - the right to live.

Talking to Sowetan Nkulee said the world and the music industry owed people like her father celebrations of this kind.

"We (musicians) are paid for our creative works because of people like my father. Today we even have rights that we celebrate," she said.

The loss of her father was still a subject that touches her deeply and she felt justice had not been done.

"It is still a grey area for the family," she said.

"While the perpetrators can be visited by their families and they might be freed if they behave well, I will never be able to go on an outing with my father ever again. I believe that if you take someone else's life your life should be taken too."

Talking about the right to life, she said her father was still a part of her life and needed to be celebrated.

Nkulee said: "I will be rendering a few of my father's songs - to honour him. He is still alive in me and it is our right to celebrate our rights as stipulated in the Constitution."

More than that, Nkulee has bagged six nominations at the 31st Annual International World and Reggae Music Awards. She is nominated for Best Female Vocalist, Best Song, Best Album, Best Music Video, Best New Entertainer and Most Promising Entertainer.

The awards ceremony will be in Chicago, Illinois, on July 5.