7 months pregnant Singer burns to death inside a taxi while her 5-year-old daughter watches helplessly

The maskandi fraternity is mourning the death of Thuleleni “Mabongi” Dlamini. The heavily pregnant member of Othandekile died in a ball of fire in a horrific accident in Dundee, KZN, on Wednesday, 20 July.

Her mum, Thandekile Ngubane (58), said the 35-year-old was travelling from Joburg to Nkandla with her daughter Nokubongwa Hadebe (5).

“She called and informed me she was still on her way. Later in the evening, I called her but she was not answering her phone.

“At around 8pm, we received a message informing us she got burnt inside a taxi.

“We rushed to the scene and found her daughter. She told us what happened to her mother,” she said.

Thandekile said they were still not sure what started the fire.

“When the incident happened, Mabongi pushed her daughter through the window, but she couldn’t jump out or escape the flames.

“She was seven months pregnant. I suspect this made it impossible for her to escape,” she said.

“According to Nokubongwa, everything happened so fast and she had to watch her mother burn in the taxi.”

Thandekile said she didn’t know when or how Mabongi would be buried as they are waiting for the post-mortem results.

“I appeal to Good Samaritans to help me bury my daughter,” she said.

Othandekile member, Captain Mhlongo, described Mabongi’s death as a loss to the music industry.

Nkandla Mayor Mbhekiseni Biyela said he had already visited the family and will help her family bury her.