Top 5 Most Controversial South African Musicians

South Africa has had it’s fair share of controversial musicians who had scandal after scandal. We talking f drug abuse, racism! (yes racism) to capable homicide. Below is a compilation of Top 5 Most Controversial South African Musicians of all time. The list features popular singers across genres. Enjoy!

1. Dj Sbu

DJ Sbu and who is believed to be the controversial Mzekezeke has never admitted in public that he is indeed is Mzekezeke.  In 2015 he was fired from Metro FM for promoting his energy drink on stage at the Metro FM awards and in the same year Dj Sbu had a controversial Forbes cover which was said to have been photoshoped. He also had another run with the media following allegations that his wife cheated on him with a popular local businessman

2.Kelly Khumalo

Kelly Khumalo

Kelly controversially was known as the industry ‘Virgin’ The singer subsequently had a successful career which lead to confessions to being a drug addict for at least two years during her relationship with the singer Molemo Maarohanye, she attended Narcotics Anonymous meetings. On 26 October 2014, her boyfriend Senzo Meyiwa captain of the South Africa men’s national football team and club side Orlando Pirates with whom she has a child was shot dead in her presence at her family’s home in Vosloorus.Details of the boyfriend’s death created so much controversy as the Meyiwa family constantly attacked Kelly in the media and blamed her for Senzo’s death. The singer has also been accused of skin lightening and has had a series of unsuccessful relationships.

3.Steve Hofmeyer

In December 2008, Hofmeyr allegedly assaulted Esmaré Weideman, editor of Huisgenoot, a popular Afrikaans magazine, by pouring a cup of cold tea over her at the Miss South Africa finals. He was said to have blamed her and two other journalists for his divorce from Sutherland. Miss Weideman subsequently dropped her accusations. On 12 May 2011, Hofmeyr released the lyrics to his new song called “Ons sal dit oorleef”, which means “We will survive this”. The song is controversial, because Hofmeyr has threatened to include the word “kaffir” in the lyrics of the song.Hofmeyr removed the offensive word in his song, citing that the word would offend his black friends and colleagues. Hofmeyr was heavily criticised after performing the former South African national anthem, Die Stem, at a cultural festival known as Innibos in Nelspruit in July 2014. He went on to perform the anthem on international tours, and encouraged white South Africans to continue singing it, stating that it did not contain any form of hate speech. In October 2014, Hofmeyr wrote and published a tweet stating that he believed that black South Africans were the “architects of apartheid” on his public Twitter account. This prompted a significant public backlash.^[16] One of Hofmeyr’s critics was puppeteer Conrad Koch and his puppet Chester Missing, who launched a campaign calling on companies to stop sponsoring Hofmeyr. On 27 November 2014, Hofmeyr failed to acquire a final protection order against Koch and his puppet in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court.

4.Jub Jub

On 8 March 2010 Jub Jub and his friend Themba Tshabalala caused a serious accident when they were drag racing under the influence of hard drugs on a public road near a school. Four children were killed and another two survived with brain damage.On 5 December 2012, both were sentenced to 25 years in jail each for murder, attempted murder and three related offences. An appeal will be heard on 7 February 2014.On 8 October 2014 Jub Jub and his friend Themba Tshabalala’s murder conviction was overturned to culpable homicide in a high court in Johannesburg.Their sentences were reduced from 25 years to 10 years, starting from 2012. On 5 January 2017 he was released on parole after serving 4 years, one month and one day of his sentence. His accomplice and fellow accused, Themba Tshabalala was also released on parole the same day.

5. Brenda Fassie

With very outspoken views and frequent visits to the poorer townships of Johannesburg, as well as songs about life in the townships, Brenda Fassie enjoyed tremendous popularity. Known best for her songs “Weekend Special” and “Too Late for Mama”, she was dubbed “The Madonna of the Townships” by Time magazine in 2001. In 1995, she was discovered in a hotel with the body of her female lover, Poppie Sihlahla, who had died of an apparent overdose.Fassie underwent rehabilitation and got her career back on track. However, she still had drug problems and returned to drug rehabilitation clinics about 30 times in her life.