The Sunday News
Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter
WITH his star on the ascendancy, Nkayi (Matabeleland North) born house music producer, Zwelihle “DJ Zwesta” Mathe, finds himself in the news for all the wrong reasons, as one of his acquaintances’ alleged gruesome murder of a South African sangoma, has led to questions about his ties to the said killer.
The gruesome murder of Anele Hoyana by Fritz “Majeke” Joubert was the talk of South African traditional and social media last week.
The brutal encounter was recorded and posted by Joubert on Facebook. Several other videos that circulated on social media also gave a graphic illustration of how Hoyana met his end at the hands of the crazed killer. The man who filmed Joubert terrorising murder victim Hoyana told the South African media that he was “instructed” to do so by the sangoma killer.
In one of the videos, a near hysterical Joubert can be seen shouting expletives as Hoyana lies on the ground. As Hoyana’s wife screams, Joubert continues to bash the sangoma’s head with a rifle butt all the while recording.
In another video before that final fatal assault Joubert, calling himself the King of Africa, instructs Hoyana to kneel as he accuses him of being the devil. Hoyana does this while carrying his two-year- old child, while Joubert calls her the daughter of Satan during his rant.
The murder sent shock-waves throughout South Africa, with the Julius Malema-led Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) taking it as an example of the violence towards black people by white farmers. After Joubert was shot dead by law enforcement officers during the week, members of the party occupied his Gonubie Farm, saying that they would soon turn it into a crèche.
The aftermath of the incident has been particularly bitter for Bulawayo-bred DJ Zwesta who only last week was nominated for a Skyz Metro award for his song Lashona Ilanga.
Questions have been asked about his relationship with Joubert, who reportedly had another murder case pending in Bloemfontein during the week that he committed his latest gruesome act. One of the last selfies taken of the two, sees a sullen Zwesta alongside Joubert whose face is smeared with blood.
Zwesta said Joubert, who also featured in one of his music videos, had forced him to take the picture.
“He cut his finger and smeared the blood on his face. He demanded a selfie, and enjoyed himself. I needed to tread carefully — the farm is isolated and I could sense danger. He had been burning money earlier on. When we asked for money to get a cab, he burned some more notes and smeared a R200 note with blood and went back to sleep,” Zwesta said in an interview.
Zwesta claimed that he had escaped Joubert’s home a few days before he killed Hoyana.
“It was my first time meeting Anele, but I didn’t understand why he (Joubert) was so aggressive towards him. They fought and disagreed a lot but made up,” said Mathe. “I asked Anele why he was so tolerant and he said he could tame him (Joubert). He trusted him. (Joubert) then touched my girlfriend in a provocative manner and I called him out but he apologised. That’s when I wanted to leave.”
The DJ said he had left in the dead of the night with his girlfriend as they grew increasingly worried about Joubert’s erratic and violent behaviour.
Zwesta clarified his relationship with Joubert, saying that everything had been fine between them before everything went sour with the latest incident.
“We used to hang out a lot. It was fun when everything was fine. He used to host people at his farm. There usually were both black and white people hanging out and having a good time. I even shot my music video there. He acted like a good guy, like he was pro-black, but this whole thing triggered me,” he said.
Zwesta said that Joubert had tried to use his standing as a renowned entertainer to convince him to sway media practitioners to cover a lion park that he planned to start.
“He loves guns, but he always said they are for hunting. He was establishing some kind of lion park at his farm for entertainment, so this was not alarming. My role was to sway the media and get coverage for the event — but I never got to, since I left early in the week. I’m glad I left,” he said.
The pint-sized former Umzingwane High School boy is currently based in East London, where he juggles business and music. He is a holder of a Bachelor of Accounting degree attained from the University of Fort Hare in 2009.
He runs Zwesta Empire Private Limited, a company which has interests in mechanical electrical work and has a contract with Eastern Cape Department of Health.
Through Zwesta Empire Private Limited, the DJ enjoys good work relations with United States of America-based NuTechnologies, acting as their strategic partner for Southern African Development Community (Sadc) countries. NuTechnologies is one of the world’s leading solution providers in the services and manufacturing industry.
