DURBAN - House music legend Frederick Ganyani Tshabalala, better known as DJ Ganyani, has expressed shock at the passing of hip-hop rapper Rikhado Muziwendlovu Makhado, known as Riky Rick, and said the creative arts sector was severely affected by the deaths of several artists recently.
In an interview with the Daily News, Ganyani said he was saddened by the news of the death of the rapper, who took his life. The family of the hip-hop star announced his passing on Wednesday.
Ganyani said: “Depression is real, and the African community needs to take this seriously because it is a very serious mental illness. We focus more on physical illness and overlook other illnesses. Worse in the creative industry, people perish and when they try to reach out for help, nobody listens.
“Riky Rick made it clear that he had chronic depression and we never listened to reach out to help. He tried to reach out, but we never listened.”
Ganyani said it was difficult for people to open up about their illnesses and other issues because they would be made a laughing stock.
“One cannot even say that he/she is broke because before you know it, you will be trending on social media. What people forget is that we all go through challenges and, without the love and support from those close to us, we end up doing undesirable things.”
The Q-love hitmaker stated that the Covid-19 pandemic had impacted many artists negatively and killed the only source of income they relied on.
“We can never understand why a person as powerful as him would commit suicide, but what I know is that we are all suffering and some of us are not strong enough to continue to endure the suffering. I feel sorry for his family, especially the young children he left behind. What do we say to them when they ask questions? This is devastating.
“The creative industry is losing people with great talents, HHP, TK, Patrick Shai and many others are gone due to the challenges we face in the industry. This a sign that something is not going well there and we need to pay attention to what is happening there,” he explained.
Speaking about his event, the “DJ Ganyani and Friends Tour”, taking place in Soweto on Sunday, Ganyani said he could not bring the annual event to Durban because of the Covid-19 restrictions and that this had impacted his company financially.
The show is expected to pull power-house music legends including DJ Christos, Vinny Da Vinci, Ralf Gum, Sir LSG, DustonHO, and Stokie.
Artists have been struggling to make ends meet since the country was hit with lockdown restrictions, making it difficult for performers to put food on the table.
In September last year, a group of Durban artists took to the N3 to protest against the lockdown and how it had impacted their livelihoods.
The group set up a stage on the national highway and hosted a mini-concert. They said the lockdown regulations and the limitation on gatherings at venues were impacting their pockets.
At the time, the KwaZulu-Natal Cultural and Creative Industries Federation of South Africa said the government had failed to take into consideration their concerns about the Covid-19 restrictions.
Federation spokesperson Umntwana Thokozani “Tzozo” Zulu said: “We cannot have big concerts with less than 500 people. There will be no Macufe African Cultural Festival, spring or summer concerts because we cannot sell tickets and profit from 250 people.”
Daily News