Chumani Nqakula, the late son of Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, was a budding rapper who enjoyed the fun side of life.
Chumani,pictured, was stabbed to death in the chest on Saturday afternoon, allegedly by a neighbour. The incident happened while the deceased and the suspect were spending time with a group of friends at one of the friends' places in Bezuidenhout Valley, Johannesburg.
Chumani's friend Aaron Dibakoane spoke to Sowetan about his promising music career that ended too soon. "Chumani was a crazy creative. He never wrote his rhymes, he just went into the studio and rapped from the top of the head. He had dreadlocks and was a fan of Lil Wayne and Waka Flocka Flame because they had dreadlocks as well and did the same kind of music," he said.
Dibakoane is a producer and rapper and a cousin of musician AB Crazy. Dibakoane said he saw Chumani earlier on Saturday but was not around when the stabbing took place.
"He seemed okay and in good spirits when I saw him. They were out to get a bottle [of alcohol] and hang out with the guys."
Chumani, 23, was not a big-name rapper but seemed to take his rap career seriously by regularly dropping singles and being featured on other people's projects. "He was working on a mix tape and was about to drop it soon. He still had to title it."
Dibakoane said Chumani was on his two mixtapes - Joburg's Finest Compilation and The Introduction.
He went by the name Spongebob in high school.
"People used to make fun of his weight when he was still fat and called him Spongebob."
One of his songs, a freestyle that was released on YouTube in June this year, shows him driving with a friend in a SUV and also has parts of them hanging out with women in what seemed like his house while smoking Cuban cigars.
I put my God-mode on so nobody will say they helped me, he raps. In other lines, he brags about having Gucci shoes on his feet and smoking Cuban cigars.
Chumani was a regular performer in pubs and clubs around Johannesburg, according to Dibakoane.
tiwaneb@timesmedia.co.za