TUMI Masemola of City Ses’la fame has reunited with her father after losing contact with him when she was in high school. The 34-year-old Gang of Instrumentals member, affectionately known as Lady Naturelle, says the reunion was one of her highlights from last year.
REUNITING WITH HER ESTRANGED FATHER
Tumi says when her father left her and her mother, she didn’t understand it as much as she does now. “It’s only now that I see their break up had nothing to do with me,” she says. She is not shy to admit that it did impact her in a negative way because all she knew was that her father had “provoked my mother and moved on”. She confesses that she did have hard feelings towards him. Nevertheless, that’s all in the past now and they are rebuilding their relationship. “When I met him, it was awkward I don’t want to lie,” she admits. “I am a woman now with kids and all. The last time we saw each other I was just a young girl. I didn’t even know what to call him. Do I call him by his name or dad?” she says of a man she had quite a close relationship with while she was a little girl. “I was close to my father because my mom was working. When dad was shaving I would too and thus I grew up a tomboy,” she recalls.
DISPELLING TROUBLED MARRIAGE RUMOURS
It’s hard to believe that Lady Naturelle, who is a girlie girl, actually grew up a tomboy, something she laughs at when it’s pointed out to her. She has left the baggy pants and shaved head in the past and married her former bandmate Mandla Ngcongwane, best known as Mandla N. They’ve been together for 15 years and have been married for 10 and are blessed with two children. But there have been reports that there is trouble in paradise, with some citing her solo career as evidence that they’re headed for divorce. Tumi casually pours cold water on the rumours. “Someone called me one day and asked me that. I wondered if they were going to print that garbage. I was at home with my man and the kids. My only concern is that it worries the elders when they read these things, not understanding that people are just trying to sell their papers,” she says.
SHE IS UNCERTAIN ABOUT THE FUTURE
Tumi, who is working on her solo album called Breaking Out, says doing a solo project has always been a dream. “Going solo has always been a plan and it’s something we’ve been discussing for a while,” she explains. Asked if her solo project means the end of Gang of Instrumentals, Tumi says she is uncertain. “The group is not necessarily over and at the same time I don’t know whether it is. We still keep in touch with the guys and some have worked with me on this album. We’ll just have to see.”
