WeeklySA_AdminSOCIALITE: Mashego was a multi-talented personality with a long history in the country’s entertainment industry…
By Gugu Sibiya
Creatives and other South Africans recently bid farewell to one of South Africa’s foremost showbiz personalities, Collins Mashego.
The multi-talented socialite was a TV personality, actor, drummer and comedian – a man of many parts, including his sterling role as a showbiz compere of some of the country’s top shows in the past three decades. The effervescent Mashego passed away a fortnight ago, at the age of 82, after a long illness that saw him frequent the hospital until he lost the valiant battle.
Despite the pain he endured, he still maintained high spirits, tickling visitors to his Mamelodi Gardens home in Pretoria East with gut-ripping jokes. He was brave to the hilt. No doubt, laughter was his buffer to pain, becoming his refuge during those trying moments.
The charming Mashego worked at the SABC when its headquarters were still at Commissioner Street in the 80s. He moved with the broadcaster to Auckland Park. Mashego was at home setting music programmes, variety shows and any form of entertainment for TV viewers. The result was a batch of captivating shows like Tshutshu Makgala, Lapologa, Dinaledi and many game shows that kept youngsters glued to their screens and off the streets.
His late daughter, the radiant Vinolia, took from her father, she was a ball of fire that continued his dad’s legacy through the extremely popular “Jam Alley” youth show.
Sam Mhangwani, co-director of Drakensberg Promotions, who gave Mashego his first showbiz break, had great memories only about his friend, reminiscing: “Collins was a warm person who loved people. A talented, multi-skilled artist with truckloads of humour. He used to come and watch our rehearsals at DOCC in Orlando, Soweto. He was so enthralled I ended up hooking him up with a role in Unfaithful Woman.
“During our road trips to performance halls, he’d have a go at each and every one of us, leaving us in stitches. In the six years he was with me, we never felt the distances we travelled. If he were in his prime in the current times, he would have killed it in comedy. Apart from comedy, he loved acting, later becoming lead actor in Mhwangani’s follow-up show, Blame Yourself.
“A natural on stage, audiences were mad about him. Collins went on to become a drummer in Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse’s band. He then joined the SABC, where he really injected life at the then newly formed entertainment department. The technical skills he acquired from us came in handy. Thanks to budget constraints back then. Everybody in the show had to be multi-skilled which came in handy”.
Despite the busy showbiz schedule, Mashego still spent most of his time with his family: loved his wife and children. Losing his wife, Betty, and daughter Vinolia so soon thereafter tore him. The grief was just too much and he became sickly.
“I’m sure he’s happily reunited with them. We are losing a lot of legends, it’s unsettling. Most of the people who were in my shows are gone” observes the playwright sadly.
Lopang Manyama, a spokesperson for the family, said she was shocked at the passing of the famed actor. “Although I last saw Collins in April at the tombstone unveiling of his wife, Betty, and daughter, Vinolia, we spoke regularly. He’d be sick but it wasn’t serious”.
Collins, who is survived by his son, Collins, junior, and daughter Penly, was laid to rest a week ago.
