The popular Emzini Wezinsizwa’s actor, famously known as Jwara, died after a long bout of illness. He was 83-years-old.
Emzini Wezinsizwa was a SABC1 sitcom that ran from 1994 to 2004. The show centred on five adult males who moved to Johannesburg to earn a living and lived in a hostel. The sitcom featured Mzansi legends Jerry Phele, Nyembezi Kunene and Vusi Thanda, among others.
Speaking to Morning Live on Tuesday, the veteran actor’s son Zolani Sixolo said that his father passed away on Sunday.
Sixolo said his father was bedridden for a long time, and was being taken care of by his mother. The actor’s condition started deteriorating last month. On Saturday he was taken to Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto.
“To the world, he was known as ntate Jwara, Jackson Senzekile, but at home, all I can say is that he was the best husband to my mom, and the best father to myself and my siblings.
“One thing we will always remember him for is his sense of humour. Even when he was sick, he still had that sense of humour. People would come home to pay him a visit, and because he could not walk anymore, he would say: ‘Look, why do you come here because I should be paying you a visit?
A number of the Emzini Wezinsizwa cast have passed away in recent years .
Nyembezi Kunene, who played a senior security guard, died last year following a long battle with diabetes.
Shadrack Ngema, who played traditional healer Magubane, died from heart-related complications in December 2015.
Two months earlier, Roland Mqwebu died in a Durban hospital after suffering from a kidney related illness.
Bafana Mlangeni, who played the rowdy, drunken snitch Sibeko, died a little over a month before Mqwebu. He suffered from diabetes.
Sixolo started acting in the late 1970s, and won a Tonight Acting Award in 1983. He also starred in the hit TV series Shaka Zulu as Bhebhe and in Jackie Chan’s action flick Who Am I?