Audio for this story was generated with artificial intelligence. Maskandi performer Mkhathazi Nsibande has clarified that the 11 dancers killed in a head-on crash with a truck on the N2 in Mtubatuba were not members of his troupe at the time, although they had appeared on the same bill at the Isibaya Ingoma Festival.
Crash followed festival journey
The dancers died on Sunday as they travelled back to eHluhluwe after attending the event at Emkhandlwini Sports Grounds in eMpangeni. Mkhathazi had performed alongside them at the festival and has now explained the group’s connection to him.
He said the dancers had previously been associated with him, but were no longer working under his direction when the accident occurred.
The group was led by 2 Stabane Dlamini, who was also among those killed. Dlamini had moved on from being one of Mkhathazi’s dancers and was heading a traditional troupe from eMdletsheni.
Group competed independently
The dancers had travelled to the festival to compete against other traditional groups before the Maskandi performances began. Mkhathazi said their attendance was not dependent on his own booking, as they would have gone to the event even if he had not been scheduled to perform.
- The dancers appeared at the festival under Dlamini’s leadership.
- Dlamini headed the Ushameni traditional group and was no longer part of Mkhathazi’s dance team.
- Although several victims had worked with Mkhathazi in the past, he stressed that they were not his troupe on the day of the crash.
Families await identification
Nine of the 11 victims were so badly burned that they could not be identified visually. Their families are now waiting for DNA testing to confirm the identities of their loved ones.
Mkhathazi said the deaths had deeply affected the northern KwaZulu-Natal community, where the dancers were widely known for competing on their own and for helping keep young people away from harmful behaviour. Their work was associated with steering children away from alcohol use and crime in the community.
Although he made clear that he was not leading the group during the festival, Mkhathazi said he would support the grieving families.
He plans to join visits to the homes of all those who died on Saturday.
