‘Panic or heart attack but wait for experts’: Suicide rumours surrounding KCi addressed
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He was a people’s person but was only discovered days after he died. Mthobeli “KCi” August’s family say they are distraught after his death.
“We called him on Christmas Day and couldn’t reach him, to realise the time we couldn’t reach him he was in trouble.”
The former Umhlobo Wenene FM presenter’s death was announced on the evening of December 29, soon after his body was discovered in his Johannesburg home. He was 47.
His friend Luphumlo Ngcayisa addressed rumours surrounding KCi’s death, saying the public should wait for experts to confirm the cause of his death.
Ngcayisa said forensic experts suspect “it might have been a panic or heart attack”. He said “it appears as though he had stepped out of the bath and they suspected it could have been a panic or heart attack. It looked as though he was reaching for his phone and that is when he fell.”
KCi won the hearts of many of the station’s listeners when he was moved to the afternoon drive slot in 2005, playing his hilarious skits and prank calls. He was known for his witty humour, distinctive style of presenting and closeness with fans on and off air.
On Thursday he was remembered in a memorial service as a pioneer of prank calls and skits on radio.
KCi was fired from the SABC radio station in 2007 after he refused to play the station’s playlisted songs. His supporters demanded his comeback and he was reinstated to his afternoon drive slot in 2012. A year later he was made to co-host his Masigoduke afternoon drive show with Luyanda “Luks” Gidane, which fans saw as a demotion. The usually bubbly KCi was reserved during co-hosting.
He will be buried on Saturday at his hometown of Adelaide in the Eastern Cape.
“We called him on Christmas Day and couldn’t reach him, to realise the time we couldn’t reach him he was in trouble.”
The former Umhlobo Wenene FM presenter’s death was announced on the evening of December 29, soon after his body was discovered in his Johannesburg home. He was 47.
His friend Luphumlo Ngcayisa addressed rumours surrounding KCi’s death, saying the public should wait for experts to confirm the cause of his death.
Ngcayisa said forensic experts suspect “it might have been a panic or heart attack”. He said “it appears as though he had stepped out of the bath and they suspected it could have been a panic or heart attack. It looked as though he was reaching for his phone and that is when he fell.”
KCi won the hearts of many of the station’s listeners when he was moved to the afternoon drive slot in 2005, playing his hilarious skits and prank calls. He was known for his witty humour, distinctive style of presenting and closeness with fans on and off air.
On Thursday he was remembered in a memorial service as a pioneer of prank calls and skits on radio.
KCi was fired from the SABC radio station in 2007 after he refused to play the station’s playlisted songs. His supporters demanded his comeback and he was reinstated to his afternoon drive slot in 2012. A year later he was made to co-host his Masigoduke afternoon drive show with Luyanda “Luks” Gidane, which fans saw as a demotion. The usually bubbly KCi was reserved during co-hosting.
He will be buried on Saturday at his hometown of Adelaide in the Eastern Cape.