Musician and Alaska Kwaito group member Thabo ‘Crazy T’ Tsotetsi has died.
He was working on his solo project, running a successful hair salon and gearing up for performances at this year’s biggest Kwaito event happening in October.
He was one of two remaining members of the Alaska kwaito group, and now there is only one surviving member.
Family, friends and fans have expressed their shock at the death of the star.
His colleague, Siphiwe “Picat” Sibeko and longtime friend Puleng Mokoena confirmed to Drum that Crazy T from Meadowlands, Soweto passed away on Sunday morning while hospitalized at Bheki Mlangeni Hospital in Jabulani, Soweto. Puleng says she has been chatting to Thabo before he went to the hospital, because he has been complaining about flu. When she was checking up on him, someone else answered the phoned and informed her that Thabo is not in a good condition.
“I went to his salon to do my hair and that is when I noticed that he is not okay. He told me he is not feeling well, and suspected that he is coming down with flu, I told him to go to the hospital, but he was stubborn and told me that he believes in taking herbs, but he eventually went to the hospital last week Tuesday, and he was admitted. We continued to chat, and he was responding. I became worried when I texted him and he didn’t respond,” says Puleng while struggling to control her tears.
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“On Saturday when I called somebody else answered his phone, my body got cold, and the person told me that Thabo is not in good condition and then I began to get worried,” she says.
“When I woke on Sunday morning, I received that news that Thabo passed away, and now nothing makes sense because he was such an optimistic person who was always bubbly, did everything with all his heart. My last moment with him was when he was cutting my hair and now, I am waiting for everything to make sense. I don’t have much to say on the matter but to reminisce on the good memories we had and support his family through this difficult time,” she says.
Puleng says she met Thabo his cousin, the award-winning producer Mandla ‘Spikiri’ Mofokeng and they build a solid friendship because “he was a humble and down to earth person who loved music and dancing and wanted to inspire young kids from Meadowlands, and that was part of the reason why he didn’t move out of the township because he wanted to be a good role model”.
Alaska started out with five members LuckyMlakana, Thabo Tsotetsi, Les Ma-ada, Andrew Moloisane, and Sphiwe Picat.
Now only Siphiwe is left. The group was popularly known for their hit songs Alaska and Accuse amongst others.
Thabo was part of the Kalawa Jazmee Records owned by Oskido, who also discovered Alaska. The record label posted a statement on their social media page confirming the death.
The statement reads: “It is with heavy hearts, that we confirm the death of founding member of Alaska, Thabo Tshabalala. The contribution you made towards the music industry lives on, you have set a path, now we follow.”