Bongani Fassie booted from Mandela’s mansion – report
Brenda Fassie's son was living with the Mandelas last year, until the head of the house reportedly had enough of him.
Bongani Fassie on June 8, 2013, in Johannesburg. Picture: Gallo Images
The son of late superstar Bongani Fassie continues to make headlines for reasons he would probably prefer not to, with Sunday World reporting he “misbehaved” while living as a guest with his wife in the home of late former president Nelson Mandela.
The paper reports that they went to live at a two-bedroom cottage at the house in Houghton, Johannesburg, last year after falling on hard times and needing a place to live until Bongani “found his feet”.
Nelson Mandela had “taken Bongani as his son” due to his love for his mother, and there was apparently an open invitation to Bongani to live at the property.
Mandela’s grandson Ndaba told the paper he had, however, shown the Fassies the door after three months “because [Bongani] was a difficult person to live with” and Ndaba felt he had been left with no other choice.
Bongani’s wife Buhle, however, told the paper the real reason Ndaba had evicted them was because Bongani had taken the side of Ndaba’s brother Mbuso during family quarrels. She said the two brothers had “issues”. Ndaba, she claimed, told Bongani not to interfere.
As for the allegation shared with Sunday World that Bongani had “assaulted” a maid at the property by slapping her and pouring liquor on her, Buhle said a confrontation had indeed occurred with the maid because she had been allegedly lazy in helping the Fassies to clean their cottage.
When the maid told Bongani it was not her job to clean their cottage, “he then took one of the beers which were on the coffee table and smashed it on the floor and said, ‘I’m now giving you more work to do'”, said Buhle.
She denied that he had hit the woman though.
Last week, Sunday World also reported that Bongani had “lied” about all the millions he claimed to have received that week from his mother’s estate, and that he still faced financial problems.
According to that report, the hip-hop artist was not able to pay rent and had been threatened with eviction. The musician denied this, saying his days of being penniless were behind him.
He had told The Sowetan that he was now living the good life and did not have to do music any more after his mother’s R20 million estate was paid out to him.
The estate, he claimed, had been settled 14 years after her death.
In 2010, it was reported how former director of South African Recording Rights Graham Gilfillan and Twala nearly came to blows over the money.
