Zenoyise Madikwa

Zenoyise Madikwa

Rastafarians turned out in droves yesterday to pay their respects to slain reggae singer Lucky Dube.

They gathered outside the packed Newtown Hall watching the memorial service on a big screen.

The rastas came in their brightly-coloured turbans and floor-sweeping robes to celebrate the life of an icon they called a prophet of the truth.

Ironically, Dube was not a practising Rasta, but a committed member of the Shembe Church. The religion shares many beliefs with Rastafarians.

While the proceedings were going on inside, hundreds of Rastafarians smoked dagga and said prayers quietly.

Rasta Thabiso James of the Nyabinghi Tribe said though Dube was not a practising Rastafarian he was Rasta.

"Every black man is a Rasta man. Rasta is a way of life. It is about loving your neighbour as you love yourself and being free in the mind. Lucky had all these attributes."

A Rasta man who identified himself as Zakhele Matebese of the Bobo Ashanti sect said the Rastafarian community had not only lost a music icon, but a prophet.

"Lucky was Jah's prophet. The people who have taken his life have taken the life of a prophet of God who prophesied our freedom from the slavery of the Boers when it was not fashionable to do so.

"He communicated the massage of freedom from Babylon and its system. "