Lerato Khanye died after battling long illness

Johannesburg - A month after his father died, rapper Jabulani “HHP” Tsambo’s son is mourning the death of another parent.

On Monday, Leano’s mother Lerato Khanye died at a Joburg hospital following a long illness.

Family spokesperson Nkululeko Ncana said: “She was sick. The family are asking for privacy at this time.”

He said the family were now committed to ensuring the 13-year-old Leano’s wellbeing.

Khanye was HHP’s long-term girlfriend before he met his customary wife Lerato Sengadi.

The Motswako rapper died last month, and this led to a bitter fight when Sengadi hauled the family to court a day before his funeral, demanding to bury him. Khanye was at the centre of the feud between HHP’s family and Sengadi.

The Tsambo family said the only woman they recognised as Leano’s mother was Khanye, and disputed that Sengadi was married to their son.

The high court in Joburg ruled that Sengadi was, in fact, HHP’s wife but did not allow her to stop the rapper’s funeral, as she had planned. Instead, Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng said that in the spirit of ubuntu, Sengadi must allow the family to go ahead with the funeral and attend it.

Earlier this month, Khanye said Leano was left traumatised when Sengadi threw out two of his friends from HHP’s Randpark Ridge home. Sengadi was given rights to the home in the upmarket suburb, which Judge Mokgoatlheng accepted as the couple’s matrimonial home.

At the time, Khanye said: “Leano was not there because he had slept at my parents’ place. He was shattered and could not sleep, thinking about his friends.”

The Star