He Is Resting Peacefully

Lundi Tyamara’s sister, Nocawe, remembers her brother, as do friends from the music industry

- Hopewell Mpapu

HE WAS the baby-faced singer with a voice like velvet, a Peter Pan-like figure who didn’t seem to age – and now, he will forever remain a young man in the memories of those who loved him.

Frozen in time in the prime of his life, Lundi Tyamara will never see wrinkles on his smooth skin, never see grey pepper his hair.

Yet for his friends, family, colleagues and fans, it is small comfort. The 38-year old gospel singer slipped away just as he seemed to be launching his long-awaited comeback, which got a shot in the arm late last year when he was invited to China to perform at a traditional music festival as the only South African artist in the line-up.

“I’m so excited,” he told us at the time. “I’ve never been to China before.”

The concert was a success, but barely a month later Lundi started showing signs he was in trouble. He began to lose weight, so his clothes hung on his fragile frame and his eyes seemed sunken in their sockets.

Stomach TB and liver problems were given as the reasons for his illness, which no one really expected him to die from. Fans had barely come to terms with Sfiso Ncwane’s death from kidney failure in December – now another singer had passed away. The South African music industry was plunged into mourning all over again.

DRUM spoke to Lundi for the last time only a few weeks ago, when we contacted him for his thoughts on the passing of Sfiso, who he was very close to.

He was shattered. The two artists had performed at a gig together in the Northern Cape not long before and Lundi was heartbroken. “He was like a brother to me,” he told us. “I can’t believe he’s gone.” Now Lundi is gone, too.