Babsy Mlangeni and his family have been left puzzled after Thobela FM "killed off" the legendary musician while he's still alive and kicking.
The 77-year-old musician's world was thrown into turmoil on Saturday after the station allegedly declared him dead and paid tribute to him on-air, even going as far as playing his music during the segment.
Sowetan understands that the station mistook him for his late uncle and anti-apartheid Struggle icon Andrew Mlangeni, who died last week.
"As you can hear for yourself, you are not talking to a ghost," Babsy fired.
"I really don't know what happened. I just assume that when they heard that my uncle [Andrew] passed away they just connected the dots because we share the same surname and we are public figures.
"They didn't try to verify from one of my peers, relatives or other media houses."
Sowetan has learnt that the confusion happened during the show Re Ka Kgona hosted by Kwetepe John Matlakala on Saturday between 2pm and 2.30pm.
Contacted for comment yesterday, Matlakala put the phone down before Sowetan could get clarity on the matter. He did not respond to text messages.
Matlakala on Sunday emailed an apology letter to Babsy and his family which Sowetan has seen.
"I would like to apologise to Babsy Mlangeni and the family for the inconvenience caused by me about our legendary music icon Babsy Mlangeni; instead of stating the name Andrew Mlangeni, the former political and the veteran Struggle hero who passed on last week, I said Babsy Mlangeni," Matlakala wrote.
"I personally apologised to our Thobela FM programmes manager Mrs Florina Sebola. I am still going to apologise to Thobela FM listeners, supporters and followers of our legendary music icon Babsy Mlangeni. I assure that this incident will never be repeated."
Babsy said he first learnt of the news of his supposed death on Saturday night from his close friend and veteran musician Steve Kekana.
Kekana and others had been frantically looking for Babsy since the show aired in the afternoon. But Babsy and his family were at a funeral, where there was no network.
"He [Kekana] was very worried because he tried to call me all day. But there was no network where we were, so people couldn't get hold of us," Babsy explained.
"He was shaken. I was amazed because my phone had many other missed calls."
Kekana told Sowetan that, "A certain homeboy of mine called me and asked, 'Are you listening to Thobela FM?' He then proceeded to tell me that they are playing two songs Sala Emma and Motho Ke Eo by Babsy Mlangeni. He added that the announcer was saying that Babsy has passed on," Kekana said.
Babsy said he and his son Lebo were in contact with the station about the incident and how they can best resolve it.
He said he was trying to move forward with his life and was not planning on taking any legal action.
Babsy added that he would be happy with an apology that came in any form.
"At the end of the day, radio made us. If they can rectify it and publicly apologise, I think that will be enough," Babsy said.
SABC spokesperson, Mmoni Seapolelo said: "The SABC can confirm that this was a human error and Thobela FM has since apologised to Mr Babsy Mlangeni and his family. The station has also taken a decision to offer an apology to the listeners on the same show where this error occurred".
However, the Mlangeni family said they were told that the mistake would be rectified yesterday.
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