May your soul rest in peace Lucky Dube

On the night of Thursday the 18th of October 2007 the South African musical legend, Lucky Dube, lost his life in a hi-jacking in the suburb of Rosettenville.
Dube was such a powerhouse of a musician. In his early days he was a successful Mbaqanga artist in South Africa, but when he turned to Reggae he became truly international. Signed to Gallo records, he released a massive amount of music in his life-time, worked with such superstars as Michael Jackson and was indeed one of South Africa’s most successful musicians.
It breaks my heart that a man whose songs often promoted peace, hope and love had to die in an incident that is drowned in tragedy. Violent crime unsettles the citizens of this country more than anything. It is hard to remain positive about the future when senseless tragedy paints such a bleak picture.
Here I must refer to Lucky Dube’s song, Crime and Corruption, which seems so bitterly ironic now. Here is a passage from the song:
Is it the bodyguards around youIs it the high walls where you liveOr is it the men with the guns around youTwenty four hours a dayThat make you ignore the crying of the peopleFarmers get killed everydayAnd you say it is not that badPolicemen get killed everydayAnd you say it is not that badMaybe if you see it through the eyesOf the victimsYou will join us and fight this

I think to myself how can we fight this Lucky? Shall we make an ever more desperate appeal to government to take drastic action and come up with a zero-tolerance strategy to deal with it? Or should we merely ask that the government and all of SA’s citizens acknowledge that it would seem that crime has become as serious an issue here as HIV Aids. Is the root of the problem complete moral decay, a society that has lost its ethical base, or is it more complex an issue to do with poverty and equality of wealth? Who can we turn to? The government? The police force? Religion? Private security? Ourselves? We surely cannot resort to vigilantism. There is no easy answer. But one thing is for sure, we cannot hide our heads in the dirt like Ostriches. The first step must be to acknowledge that violent crime is unacceptable and can only lead to ruin.
I believe that Lucky would want us to be positive and stand together. He would not want us to become paranoid. Nor would he want us to flee the country, emigrating elsewhere to escape the fear. He, after all, sang and actively fought against apartheid and remained stead-fast until its end so he was surely a man who understood the strength needed to overcome adversity. We look to you in our prayers Lucky.
Over the passed few years too many of our musical greats have passed away tragically. Gitto Baloi, KB, Lebo, Johnny Fourie to name some. When I heard the news of Lucky’s passing, I almost felt that I would spill over with despair. It left me speechless and only now am I able to put together this article.
To Lucky’s family, friends and loved ones, all of us at MIO send our deepest sympathies and condolences during this trying time, we can only imagine how painful it must be. And to you Lucky, may you rest in peace. Your legacy will be lived on through your vast collection of amazing music for a very long time.