Brenda Fassie or "MaBrrr", as Fassie was known by millions of fans in worldwide,
was South Africa's undisputed queen of pop, she died at age 39 on the 26th April 2004.

SAHO BIOGRAPHY • A TIMELINE OF SOUTH AFRICAN MUSIC • TRIBUTES: Taken from the Sowetan

Brenda lives on through discs | Hamba Kahle, SA's favourite | MaBrrr: chic with chutzpah | The Dudes remember Nokuzola

Hamba Kahle, SA's favourite

Sowetan: TIME OUT, Friday May 14 2004, Author: Gugu Sibiya

When most girls were contentedly playing dolls, Brenda Fassie was already building her first mansion and choosing her first car – albeit in her mind.

She could afford those grand plans even though she came from the wrong side of the tracks. Her accomplished pianist mother fuelled those dreams with every compliment she paid her as she accompanied the little Brenda in their modest 19 Makana Street, Langa, home in Cape Town.

As the saying goes – dreams do come true – and Brenda's did. The minute Koloi Lebona heard from a dear friend Al Etto that there was an urchin who sang like an angel.

As fate would have it, Bra Kar, as he is affectionately called, was married to a Capetonian.

“When the December holidays approached I was the one urging my wife to go home. She did and I got to visit the Fassies where I set about convincing Sarah Fassie to let her daughter come and live with me in Johannesburg while I groomed her into showbiz. The year was 1978,” he said.

Mission accomplished, Bra Kar left for Johannesburg, and the diminutive wannabe joined him in 1979.

“She came at the beginning of 1979 and I enrolled her at Phefeni Secondary School. I thought we would get her education out of the way before embarking on a showbiz career.

“A heavily pregnant Anneline Malebo, who was going on leave needed someone to stand in for her. Brenda obliged.

“After that, she left school and my home and lived all over before hooking up with Blondie and Papa Makhene. That's how I lost control over her although this did not damage our relationship. She always regarded me as a father figure.”

Eva Mabaso, who worked as a secretary at CCP Records, recalled the first time she met Brenda. “She walked in confidently demanding to see anybody to listen to her demo. She was bald, didn't have teeth and was unkempt.

“At her insistence, I finally sent her to Sy Buthelezi who was the PR manager then. The next thing I knew the whole company was rushing to Sy's office to listen to Weekend Special.

“We didn't believe her talent. We even went so far as asking her to sing live. She did, and Sy signed her on the spot.”

Melvin Mathews, the catalyst that ensured Brenda mesmerised South African and the world when penning Weekend Special and Life Is Going On, had his own recollections and take on the situation.

“Initially the song was not for Brenda, but after hearing her voice, I thought she was better suited for it. It couldn't have chosen a better person. She really rocked. She should have been made an international star.

“Sadly, in spite of the OKTV Award nominations, I never got recognition for this until now that somebody had paid a higher price.

“Her suffering started a long time age. She was performing in a lot of shows because she was paid peanuts and couldn't' afford to rest. When Weekend Special was featured on the billboard and British Charts. She should have been launched internationally. American starts who came after her, bought mansions and flashy cars with on hit.”

Blondie Makhene recalled putting together The Big Dudes and how Dumisani Ngobeni solved the problem of looking for a vocalist by telling them about Brenda.

“Papa and I had performed with international acts like Total Exposure.

“Our set was over three hours, which is why we wanted to feature Brenda with a group while retaining her as our backing singer. Besides, my sister Sam was leaving and she was a great replacement,” says Blondie, adding he lived with Brenda at his Rockville home.

“When we got Melvin's song and I helped him produce Life Is Going On, we lit a stick of dynamite, as you know it now.

Lebona says, “In hindsight I should have signed a contract with Brenda and recorded her immediately. As much as I brought her here, I sadly never did anything creative with her.

“My fondest recollection of Brenda is her being such a giving, loving lady, and a lot of people and hangers on took advantage of her generous spirit.

“Also because of her fame, everybody focused on the negatives. In Brenda's case, everybody loved her because she loved people.”

Mathews said he would mourn Brenda for a long time. “Not only was she talented, she was a strong woman. Other people in her shoes would have also taken drugs or long ago committed suicide like Donny Hathaway. People made money out of her.

“As a group we strived to be the greatest we could be, and Brenda worked just as hard,” Mathews said.

Mabaso said that when Brenda launched Weekend Special, the company brought her mother as a surprise to the launch.

“Afterwards her mother and her stayed at my house for two weeks. That's where I got a glimpse of this go-getter. She was a beautiful person inside, highly talented and ambitious.

“When we went to open a bank account for her first royalties of R50 000, she brought the whole organisation to a standstill when she demanded cash,” laughed Mabaso.

Makhene said there was no way that Brenda could have escaped drugs. She was overworked with all those four to five concerts on a Saturday and the same on a Sunday, in different areas.

“I will always remember her as a go-getter, a mover and shaker, a rough diamond with a hearth of gold. She was a lovely person.”

Rose Katz who worked with Brenda while she was a promoter, remembers her as a lovely human being.

“I loved her as family. She was kind, gentle and a giving person. It's a pity her life took a different turn. She never recognised she was bigger than her presence.

“She loved children so much, she melted around them. I would stand next to the stage, watch her pour her heart out to the crowd, which was made up of some of the poorest of the poor. Just being around her, made all the difference in their lives,” she concluded tearfully.

Boycie Fiyo, who works for CCP Records, the company that recorded her, said Brenda was very special – you only needed to understand her.

“She loved crowds, would stop and talk to her fans regardless of time constraints. She loved Bongani more than anything in the world and always wanted to get things for him.

“She was deeply spiritual and religious, talked sense and bore no grudges, always carried books. She read avidly. Just listening to her explain things, made you realise just how smart she was. I am going to miss her very much,” he said.

The last word goes to Brenda's music producer – Sello Chicco Twala.

“Brenda was extremely talented, it will take a long time to fill the void she left. In fact we have to work hard grooming youngsters to come close to what she was.

“She was smart and generous but had a tendency of keeping the wrong company. So if you insisted she toe the line, she would alienate herself from you. She did not like people who wished her well, preferring to be duped by all the hangers-on who just wanted to milk her for everything she had.

“I am going to miss her very much. I am sad at the loss of that huge talent but I will always be there for Bongani. I will make sure that he is always secure, after all that is what Brenda would expect from me” he said.

 

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