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THE family of former South Africa Soweto Gospel star Lehakoe Tlali, who has been trending on social media for seeking help, has condemned allegations of drug abuse.
Lehakoe’s name became the talk of the nation after her videos, where she appeared drunk, went viral. Her family is upset about how her situation has been portrayed, creating the impression that she was using hard drugs. Her younger sister Ntokozo Tlali told Daily Sun that the gospel singer was only addicted to booze and zol (dagga), and nothing else.
“My sister was not on hard drugs. The only problem she had was alcohol. She was also smoking zol. It becomes a problem when she mixed alcohol and zol. We want to make it categorically clear that it’s a lie. She wasn’t on hard drugs,” she said.
Lehakoe was among the first group of Soweto Gospel singers who started in 2002 and later joined African Mamas before moving overseas. She suffered from severe depression due to unpaid royalties for her popular Sotho song, Modimo Reboka Wena, released in 2006.
“She has never received even a cent. We’ve been watching her performing on TV Screens. There’s no number of words that can explain the pain to see my daughter struggling. We’ve been in this situation for the past 23 years. My daughter becomes an alcohol fan due to her unpaid royalties. She was going all over drinking alcohol and coming back home late,” said Lehakoe’s mother, who asked not to be named.
Lehakoe underwent a six-week rehabilitation programme at an undisclosed location. Additionally, the family survived a scam allegedly driven by a man who claimed to assist Lehakoe through Moja Love.
“We realised lately when he demanded R25 000 which came as a surprise knowing that Moja Love programmes are free,” said Ntokozo
The family has requested privacy and asked not to be photographed to avoid unnecessary attention.
(Source: www.snl24.com)
Online Reporter