By Nigel Pfunde
HARARE —Contemporary music icon Mukudzeyi Mukombe, popularly known as Jah Prayzah and his wife Rufaro have indefinitely postponed their wedding scheduled for October 3 following the sudden death of prominent businessman Wicknell Chivayo and his wife Lucy Muteke in a fatal helicopter crash in Marondera Wednesday.
In an official joint statement released this week, the musician expressed deep heartbreak over the loss of the businessman, describing him as family and a brother who walked closely with them through many chapters of life.
The postponement comes as the couple extended condolences to all families affected by the tragedy, saying that all other affairs must pause out of love, respect and the necessity to mourn alongside the bereaved.
Under Shona customary law and traditional decorum, proceeding with a lavish wedding celebration while a close associate or family member lies unburied is regarded as a grave cultural impropriety. Traditional ethics of unhu/ubuntu strictly prohibit the mixing of public merriment with a period of mourning.
The helicopter, which was carrying Chivayo, his wife, his security aide and two pilots, crashed in the Marondera rural area on Wednesday afternoon, about 72km east of Harare. According to police and government spokesperson Nick Mangwana, there were no survivors.
Family spokesperson Herbert Chivayo confirmed the deaths to national broadcaster .
Jah Prayzah said a new date for the wedding will be communicated in due course, and asked fans and the public to keep the Chivayo family in their prayers during this difficult time.
