Why Bongani Mohosana will not be attending AKA’s funeral

In an effort to get ahead of social media chatter, the Forbes family announced that DJ Zinhle’s husband, Bongani Mohosana would not be attending the funeral and memorial service for slain rapper AKA. 

“Bongani Mohosana will be in absentia at the memorial and funeral due to observing cultural protocol,” read part of the statement without elaborating what they meant by cultural protocol. 

This sparked a debate on social media about what this cultural protocol could be and which South African cultures observe such traditions. 

Why can’t Bongz attend AKA’s funeral

“The reason is they have children with the same women, so somehow in our culture [men] are not supposed to share her blood. So if one dies, the other guy can follow him if he attends his funeral. [For example] if Bongz goes he’ll get sick that day and die as well. The sickness is called makgoma,” tweeted @PaballoPabieM.

A journal titled Medicinal plants used to manage sexually transmitted infections by Bapedi traditional health practitioners in the Blouberg area, South Africa, defines “makgoma” as an illness caused by having sexual intercourse with a widow, and is usually found in males. 

According to the journal, the symptoms include swollen body parts, especially in the stomach area (resembling pregnancy) and untreated makgoma can lead to death.

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Others weighed in on the fact that the cultural practice was not common knowledge. 

Bongani Mohosana (stage name Mörda) is DJ Zinhle’s husband after their families observed traditional marriage rites and rituals in 2022 as documented on the latter’s reality show The Unexpected. He is also Kairo’s stepfather. 

Kairo is the child that DJ Zinhle and AKA had in 2015. 

DJ Zinhle and Bongani also share a child named Asante. 

AKA’s funeral and memorial

In light of who Kiernan Jarryd Forbes (AKA) was to music lovers across South Africa, his family has decided to open his memorial service to the public. It will take place on Friday, 17 February 2023. 

The memorial will also be live-streamed on AKA’s YouTube page.

In addition to the public memorial, a private provincial funeral for AKA will be held on Saturday, 18 February 2023. 

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