Death of big band co-founder, 25, 'huge loss to youth of Delft'

Shakier Roberts, one of the founding members of the Delft Big Band, now known as the Sekunjalo Delft Big Band, was killed in an accident on Wednesday while travelling to his home in Darling Photo: Supplied

Shakier Roberts, one of the founding members of the Delft Big Band, now known as the Sekunjalo Delft Big Band, was killed in an accident on Wednesday while travelling to his home in Darling Photo: Supplied

Published Aug 3, 2018

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Relatives, friends and fellow musicians gathered to pay tribute to Shakier Roberts, a founding member of the Delft Big Band, now known as the Sekunjalo Delft Big Band (SDBB).

The 25-year-old was laid to rest according to Muslim rites yesterday. Roberts was killed when his vehicle struck a cow near Ceres on Wednesday.

Originally from Voorbrug, Delft, he was travelling from his Milnerton workplace to his home in Darling when the accident occurred at about 6.30pm. Project co-ordinator of Survé Philanthropies Trudy Rushin said the death of Roberts was a huge loss to the youth of Delft.

The SDBB is a flagship project of Survè Philanthropies. “The band members were still too distraught to speak yesterday. They are really struggling,” she said. Roberts married Laaiqah in February this year, after which they relocated to the Cape Floral Region town.

“Roberts was the first member of the SDBB that I met, in March 2016. At that stage, he was the band manager, as well as the academy (SDBB music academy in Delft) manager, with a huge set of responsibilities, by anyone’s standards. He was mild-mannered, meticulous and eager to learn and grow. The first person in the band to graduate from university (BA industrial psychology, from the University of the Western Cape), he was a goal-orientated and life-loving young man with a bright future,” Rushin said.

Roberts was the second-youngest of four children, and is survived by both his parents, his sister and two brothers. “To say that Roberts will be missed is the biggest understatement. He motivated and inspired others without even being aware of it,” Rushin said.

Members of the band have performed in Sweden, France and the UK. Memorable South African gigs in 2016 included Moonstruck (on Clifton Beach), the Hermanus FynArts Festival and a performance at the V&A Amphitheatre. The band has performed twice at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival (CTIFJ) - in 2010 and 2015. At the 2017 CTIJF, the SDBB was well represented, with five members playing in the Sekunjalo Edujazz Band and three members playing on the main stage in Camillo Lombard Presents a Cape Town Showcase.

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