tawandamusarurwa
Veronica Gwaze
FOR nine years, the late Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi carried a wound that never healed.
He probably went to the world yonder with it when he died in 2019.
Mtukudzi lost his son, Sam, who was a promising Afro-jazz singer, in 2010.
He seemingly never recovered from the loss.
Sam, who was 21 at the time, died in a fatal car crash in Harare alongside his friend and sound engineer Owen Chimhare.
It is now more than a decade since the young crooner’s demise, but Sam Mataure, who was Tuku’s manager then, vividly remembers the traumatic episode and how it haunted Tuku.
When Sam died, his parents had travelled to South Africa for some meetings.
Afro-jazz singer Bob Nyabinde broke the sad news to Mataure, and the drummer-cum-manager, quickly put Tuku and his wife Daisy on the next flight back home.
“I only told them that Sam had been involved in a serious accident. I could not tell them about his death over the phone since I feared the sad news would make it difficult for them to travel,” revealed Mataure in an interview with The Sunday Mail Society.
Mataure visited the accident scene, went through formalities with the police before ferrying the bodies to Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals and, subsequently, the Nyaradzo Funeral Services parlour.
He later on drove to Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport to pick up Tuku and his wife.
It is at the airport that he hoped to officially break the sad news.
Unfortunately, he was delayed along the way and ended up receiving a call from his boss before he got there.
“He landed before I got to the airport. When I finally got there, he looked at me and said, ‘Aah, Sam, wakadii kundiudza? Nhai Mwari vadarirei?’ I knew he had received the news,” recalls Mataure.
“The couple was already surrounded by fans paying their condolences. I took their luggage and we got into the car before heading to the funeral parlour.”
The journey back to town, he recounts, appeared to have become longer than usual as the couple wept uncontrollably.
Staring at his son’s lifeless body in the mortuary, said Mataure, further shattered Tuku.
Recovery
At the time of Sam’s death, Tuku had international tours lined up.
As the sad news filtered across the globe, Mataure would receive calls from organisers, enquiring if he would be able to perform.
“It was just a few days to the tours. I was not sure if we were to go ahead but deep down, I knew that Tuku needed to sing to feel better. Luckily, he suggested that we go ahead with the tours,” he said.
A month later, the band had their first local gig at Pamuzinda, which was a spitting distance from where Sam died.
“I was not sure if Mtukudzi was ready to perform there due to the venue’s proximity to the accident scene. I felt Tuku needed time to recover emotionally.
“But again, he opted to go ahead with the show. He simply asked, ‘Sam, will postponement bring back my son? Do not worry, I can do it.’”
The band was set to perform in Johannesburg the following week.
“The South African media and fans came in their numbers and I knew this was going to be a difficult moment for Tuku.
I then encouraged him to be strong and he assured me that he was going to be fine. He handled everything well, including the show.”
Twitter: @verongwaze
Online Reporter