With New Year's Eve around the corner, we asked some of Mzansi’s hottest DJs to share their worst New Year's eve memories. 

DJ PH

I was booked to play in two cities:East London and Cape Town. Between the two promoters, they had chartered a six-seater, propeller jet for us so that we could make our gigs.But the charter had a technical issue and had to be grounded. So I never got to leave East London and go to Cape Town. By the time it was midnight,we were in a shuttle on our way to some random B&B and stuck in traffic. The road was closed because people were celebrating and we had to wait till 2am for it to open . It was just a horrible day at the office.

DJ Zinhle

I am normally with my family for New Year’s Eve,but one year I chose to spend it with my then boyfriend. It was the worst decision ever. I didn’t know any of the people there and it felt like the longest night of my life. I hated the whole thing.

Selby 'Selbeyonce' Mkhize

The worst was in 2014: I had lost my mom earlier that year. It was such a horrible year — I was falling apart slowly and it really hit me hard. New Year’s Eve was even worse because all I had were childhood memories of my mother. I had been hoping she would be with us so we could celebrate and seethe New Year in together. When everyone was doing the countdown I stayed in my little corner and cried my eyes out.

Hellen Seabi

The worst New Year’s Eve for me has to be 2008. I lost my best friend in a car accident. I felt so lonely: we’d been friends since primary school. I still get emotional when I think about her. She was so young and full of life.

Ms Cosmo

The worst New Year’s Eve was the year we had to bury DJ Monde in 2009.He passed away on 23 December and the funeral was on 1 January 2010. Monde and I were really close friends and that was a really tough time for me — also because I still had to attend gigs over that period, despite the sombre time.

This article first appeared in print in the Sowetan S Mag December 2018 edition.