Bongani Fassie is finally awarded his mother Brenda’s R20 million estate

Bongani Fassie is finally awarded his mother Brenda’s R20 million estate 

Bongani Fassie is the only son of one of the most iconic figures in South African music, Brenda Fassie.

Brenda Fassie, affectionately referred to as MaBrrr or The Black Madonna sold many albums (Platinum status) and garnered a substantial estate by the time she died of a drug-related overdose in 2004.

With such a large estate ‘up for grabs’ a battle naturally emerged between key players Bongani, Fassie, Brenda’s record label and music producer Chicco Twala.

Bongani Fassie was fighting to gain control over the abundance of royalties and funds procured throughout his late-mother’s music career.

Fassie and the Furious

In 2010, the former director of South African Recording Rights Graham Gilfillan and music producer Twala nearly got into a scuffle over Brenda’s riches.

Twala was accused of siphoning R650 000 of Brenda’s estate into his own bank account instead of depositing it into her bank account. While he was casually making R50 000 her son, Bongani Fassie was struggling to make it through the month.

Bongani Fassie decided to act and in 2010 he filed papers with the Pretoria High Court to declare his state of destitution.

He requested that the services of the executor be terminated so that he may takeover because he wasn’t made aware of the process in appointing an executor of the estate.

Well the court ruled in his favour and he can now comfortably go on with his life without having to really work.

Ghetto Ruff record label owner Lance Stehr, Bongani Fassie’s one time roommate said that he could no longer deal with Bongani’s drug use. Bongani admits that his two children helped him overcome the dark period in his life.

Let’s just hope that Bongani Fassie nurtures the fortune to grow more for his kids; it’s a lot of money but as many have discovered before him, it can be lost so very easily.