Langa Mavuso, a singer-songwriter, has opened up about coming to terms with the death of his partner and celebrity chef, Lentse Bhengu-Mafoko.
Bhengu-Mafoko died on Tuesday, February 28th, after a brief illness. His life was celebrated in three memorial services, one in Johannesburg and two in Durban, before he was laid to rest on March 8th.
“This hurts like hell,” Mavuso wrote in the caption to photos and videos of the two of them.
This hurts like hell. pic.twitter.com/LLWIuVBF6x
— Langa Mavuso (@LangaMav) April 11, 2023
They met during a surprise trip to Johannesburg, according to Mavuso’s speech at one of Bhengu-memorial Mafoko’s services. Swankie Mafoko, Bhengu-younger Mafoko’s sister, was performing her debut one-woman show, according to Mavuso.
“A smile captured me, and little did I know that it would be mine for years to come,” Mavuso said at the memorial.
“In the seven years that I spent with Lentswe, we shared love, we fought a lot, we had long embraces, and we made a life for us. Regardless of the strain, we always knew we loved each other, and it was aptly said in every text which ended with the words ‘love first, love always’.”
He added that he did not know how he would begin to say goodbye when “there’s still so much love to give”.
After graduating from the Culinary Academy in the Cape Winelands in 2010, Chef Lentswe established a career in the food and entertainment industries. He had previously worked in the investment finance industry.