MEDIA RELEASE

For immediate release

1 March 2015

To all Media

In honour of Saba Mbixane

The heritage and culture fraternity will host a memorial service as a special honour to Saba Mbixane for his unmatched contribution to the exposure, promotion and development of traditional music in South Africa. He passed away on 26 February 2015 after sustaining critical injuries from a motorcycle accident.

The founding partners of the South African Traditional Music Awards (SATMA), Dumisani Goba and Adv Sonwabile Mancotywa of the National Heritage Council (NHC) dedicate this memorial service to the life of the multi-award winning Saba also fondly known as “Zaw Zaw”. He was a renowned radio presenter at Umhlobo Wenene Fm station of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).

“Mbixane brought life to the category of ‘Traditional Music DJ of the Year’ in which he was competing for the last six years in the South African Traditional Music Awards (SATMA). It never occurred to us when we started the awards that a giant like Saba will arise to inspire the entire country through traditional music. He sadly left us when we were looking out for more vibrancy in the competition for this year’s SATMA and economic beneficiation for the artists of this genre of music. No one will ever fill his space in the same way that he did. May his should rest in peace”, says Adv Sonwabile Mancotywa.

Saba received the South African Traditional Music Achievement Awards six times and four of them in consecutive years and was the first radio presenter to receive the prize of a vehicle for his work in 2013 worth about R300 000. SABA was the only DJ which was playing music from all ethnic backgrounds. In 2014 he received more than 400 000 votes as the best DJ of the Year and his programme received more than 200 000 votes as Traditional Radio Programme of the Year (Lavuth’bhayi under uMhlobo Wenene FM – SABC Radio Station).

The memorial service will be held as follows:

Venue: Ethekwini Community Church (ECC), 181 Antony Lembede Street (Smith Street), Durban

Date: 4 March 2015

Time: 09h30 for 10h00

All the supporters of the SATMA’s, heritage and culture activists and the fans of Saba are invited to pay their last respect to this fallen giant of the airwaves.

For more information, kindly contact Ms. Tumi Khowa on 086 1000 513 or via Email:

Ends/

Issued by: National Heritage Council (NHC)

Danny Goulkan (Communications Manager)

012 348 1663/ 072 952 2260/

South African Traditional Music (SATMA)

Ms. Nonyamezelo Sotomela (CEO of SATMA)

072551 4203