Music legend Kaujeua dead

VETERAN local musician Jackson Kaujeua (56) died in the Katutura State hospital on Thursday afternoon after being admitted on Wednesday.
Kaujeua had been in and out of hospital frequently since November, when he was diagnosed with kidney failure.

Until the time of his death, he had been trying to get dialysis treatment.Despite his international acclaim, Kaujeua lived a modest life, funded mainly by the proceeds of album sales and performances.After his health deteriorated last year, he stopped performing and spent his time at home.Following public calls for State assistance for the liberation icon, the recently formed Namibia Music Industry Union (Namiu) started raising funds for him earlier this year.The campaign included a benefit concert featuring a number of local artists, an SMS donation line and new efforts to promote Kaujeua’s discography and biography ‘Tears over the desert’.His manager, Kerstin van Wyk, said this weekend that Kaujeua had still been looking forward to the realisation of a German musical production which was in the pipeline, and which would have been based on his life.Kaujeua is survived by five children.His son, Jackson Kaujeua Junior, currently based in Norway, is a celebrated musician in his own right and has shared the stage with his father on various occasions.Messages of condolences have been streaming in from friends and fans across the world.Funeral arrangements were not yet finalised by yesterday, as a number of family and friends from abroad were still arriving.Van Wyk said fans were welcome to pay their respects at the family’s house in Katutura.Born Jackson Muningandu Kaujeua in the southern village of !Huns near Keetmanshoop, Jackson started his singing career in the 1970s as the lead singer of the group Black Diamond.This followed a short stint studying music at the ‘Dorkay Art and Music College for Talented Non-Whites’ in South Africa. He was expelled from that country for anti-apartheid activism, which resulted in him moving to Botswana and later to the UK with the help of Swapo, where he joined Black Diamond.He also served as a teacher in an Angolan refugee camp for a short stint in 1979, before returning to Namibia around the time of Independence in 1990.Many of Kaujeua’s earlier songs still enjoy popularity today.These include the internationally acclaimed ‘Winds of Change’, ‘!Nubu !Gubus’ (Short and Round in Damara) and ‘Kalahari’.Kaujeua was also a founding member of the Ndilimani Cultural Group.

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.

The Namibian uses AI tools to assist with improved quality, accuracy and efficiency, while maintaining editorial oversight and journalistic integrity.