Local rapper Jabulani ‘HHP’ Tsambo’s family has spoken out about Lerato Sengadi's court action to prevent the family from burying the rapper this Saturday.
Speaking to Drum HHP's producer and friend Thaso Tsotetsi declined to comment on the matter but confirmed that the family will still proceed with the funeral on Saturday despite the court application.
Drum also spoke to the family’s North-West spokesperson Motlapele Morule who confirmed that the family will be appearing in court tomorrow.
“We will not comment about Lerato's court action. The situation is very tense. For us as Africans, fighting during a funeral is foreign,” he said.
The 38-year-old rapper’s funeral is set to take place at the Mmabatho Convention Centre and his second memorial service in Mafikeng will still be happening on Thursday at 12 PM.
Read more: Lerato Sengadi files papers to halt HHP funeral - reports
In a statement, Nkululeko Ncana, the family media representative said that lawyers were currently dealing with the matter and that he believes justice will be served.
"As law abiding citizen's we have full confidence in our courts and believe that a reasonable outcome in the interest of justice will be arrived at, " Ncana said.
He also said that the family would not be commenting on claims made by Lerato in her affidavit, before saying that the claims were intended to tarnish the deceased rapper's image.
"In the immediate, we will not be responding to Ms Sengadi's outrageous and sensational claims contained in her founding affidavit, which seek to impugn the good image and person of Jabba ," he began.
"At the appropriate time, the shameful untruths peddled with the aim soliciting sympathy from an unsuspecting public will be adequately addressed. It is deplorable and in bad taste that rather than mourning Jabba, matters of self interest and grandstanding are elevated above all else, especially during this painful period."
Ncana further accused Lerato Sengadi of being insensitive and lying about HHP.
"The desire to prevent our family from giving Jabba a dignified send-off is insensitive and atrocious at best, and at worst, the action is tantamount to an act of violence on the memory and legacy of Jabba, who touched millions of lives through his music and personal interactions with his fans,"
"It is a shame that our beloved Jabba is not around to dismiss off hand the lies that have been peddled about him. Everyone that ever crossed his path will attest to his loving nature. "
In an interview with Slikour in 2016, HHP confirmed that he and the former Big Brother Africa star were secretly married.
“It’s good to say ‘my wife’. Being married is amazing”, he told Slikour. “The respect that I’m getting from my folks and my entire family as a result is overwhelming. For the longest time I realised I’ve always been a boy, but now that I’m married, I’m respected as a man.”
The rapper also confirmed to Drum in a 2016 interview that he and Lerato were engaged to be married that same year.
According to a statement allegedly given to Sowetan Live by HHP’s family spokesperson Nkululeko Ncana, the family said that Lerato and HHP were never married.
"I would like to put this matter to rest and categorically state on record that Ms Sengadi is not and was never married to Jabulani. She is not his wife!
"Ms Sengadi is Jabu's ex-fiancée and moved out of his home and his life on her own accord last year. She and her mother were requested to desist from spreading this falsehood,” the statement allegedly read.
Multiple attempts to reach Lerato Sengadi have been unsuccessful.
