Veteran musician Eugene Mthethwa's public comments about his life being under threat has landed him in hot water with arts and culture minister Nathi Mthethwa and his legal team, but the kwaito star insists that he did not say that the minister is trying to kill him.
Speaking to TshisaLive, Eugene said: "There was no time that I made that claim against the minister (that Nathi was linked to threats on his life)."
Eugene's response comes after Nathi issued a statement on Sunday, revealing that his lawyers will "immediately initiate legal action against Mr Eugene Mthethwa for remarks made against the minister" at the memorial service of the late Dan Tshanda in Newton on Friday.
Speaking at the memorial service, Eugene said that he opted not to attend the launch of the ANC Manifesto in Durban at the weekend because he feared for his life.
“... I’m supposed to be in Durban today (Friday) but I was tipped that I shouldn’t go because I might be assassinated because I exposed minister Nathi Mthethwa in front of the president. I was telling the truth, I wasn’t exposing him," Eugene said.
Following Nathi's statement, IOL reached out to Eugene for comment. At the time, he said he did not want to further complicate the matter because they are both members of the ANC.
"I would rather reserve my comment since me and the minister we are members of the ANC and there are internal processes and structures that I would like to follow before exploring other external processes and only if such fail to provide guidance and solution, I will only then be in a position to issue an official statement."