Mysterious Inferno Claims Life Of Dj SK
Spira Tlhankane | Monday September 11, 2017 18:00
Even though the Tlokweng Police station commander, Station Robson Maleka could not confirm whether it was Katumbela, he told The Monitor that they recorded such an incident on Thursday.
“The investigations are still ongoing. As far as we are concerned, it could be a man or woman. We have requested the family members to help identify the deceased,” he said. Maleka added that the incident happened on Thursday between 3pm and 4pm and he could not classify it as suicide or accident as yet.
The death of the veteran Jazzman comes as a shock for a man who was recently honoured with the Presidential Certificate of Honour for his contribution to the music industry.
He has been promoting this event, the Francistown Jazz Festival, after it failed to take place on the initial scheduled date, two months ago. The festival, headlined by South African jazz legends, Selaolo Selota and Ringo Madlingozi, was supposed to be the first of its kind in the north east.
The seasoned jazz DJ also promoted jazz through his radio programme on Duma FM. His jazz promotion company, Streethorn has contributed so much to the music industry, even beyond jazz.
Streethorn is a music promotion company that specialises in entertaining with jazz and classics. The company has managed top Afro jazz artists like Shanti-Lo for a long time.
Besides Streethorn, Katumbela hosted a jazz show on Duma FM on Sunday. In the show, he invited artists to the studio to talk about their careers in music.
The show has hosted local artists like Nnunu Ramogotsi, Lister Boleseng and Bra John Selolwane, just to mention but a few. In the show, he played blues, mainstream jazz, fusion and Afro jazz.
Katumbela was also behind Re Batswana Music Ensemble as a producer and founder. The Re Batswana Music Ensemble group/band focuses on traditional, folk, afro jazz and contemporary music of Botswana.
This Ensemble comprises the best musicians such as guitarist. Banjo Mosele, iKaJazz exponent and veteran musician, Ndingo Johwa, amazing songbird, Nnunu Ramogotsi, saxophonist, Lister Boleseng, and piano maestro, Lekofi Sejeso. He has guided the group through tours in Europe, amongst other big achievements.
The tours were aimed at giving the artists international exposure through cultural exchange and celebrating Botswana’s culture.
Katumbela used to be a member of the Francistown Jazz Club and once brought South African jazz combo, Sakhile to Francistown in the early 1990s.
He then relocated to Gaborone in the 1990s where he was credited with establishing a number of popular entertainment joints.
Katumbela was supposed to be presented with the Presidential Certificate of Honour alongside other recipients on September 30.
The award was supposed to be an embodiment of his commitment to music promotion, but unfortunately he could not live long enough to receive it.