Biography
Lusanda Mcinga (born March 24, 1964) is an award-winning South African gospel singer. She is best known for creating a fresh twist on traditional Xhosa songs.
The singer was a sangoma and has touched many through music since 1995.
Lusanda Mcinga  | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Quick Facts | |
| Full Name: | Lusanda Mcinga |
| Born: | March 24, 1964 (age 59 years old) |
| Place of Birth: | Willowvale, Eastern Cape |
| Nationality: | South African |
| Occupation: | Singer |
| Years Active: | 1995-date |
| Children: | Betusile Mcinga |
Early Life
Lusanda Mcinga was born on March 24, 1964, in Willowvale, Eastern Cape, South Africa. She was the third-born child of her parents out of six siblings.
The talented singer started her musical journey home with her siblings and their mother.
Growing up, the singer enjoyed playing with boys people called her a tomboy. In 1974, at age ten, she learned to play the guitar. After school, she would go to her parent’s shop to help them.
Some boys would gather around her parents’ shop to play guitars and to smoke tobacco. She convinced them to teach her to play the guitar in exchange for stolen tobacco from their shop.
Even after she started to play the guitar, her father never approved of it and would say she was possessed.
Sangoma Training
In 1979, as a teenage girl of fifteen years, her father sent her to undergo sangoma training (thwasa). Her chores were to make coarse pap, mixed with sour milk in a bathtub, and feed the dogs.
The singing sensation wasn’t feeding herself, and each time her parents brought her food, it would vanish, when they had gone. It continued and starved her to the point she ate with the dogs.
Six months into the training, she ran back home. Though her father wanted her to return, Lusanda’s mother allowed her to stay home.
Becoming a Christian
The Eastern Cape-born recorded her debut album in 1995. She continued to release albums and released her fifth during a crusade in 2000 when she got saved.
At that time, she lost many possessions, faced many challenges, and experienced a financial crisis. She was on the verge of taking her life but decided to try the route of Christ.
Lusanda is a member of the Methodist Church in Umtata.
Personal Life
Lusanda grew up playing with boys but outgrew the tomboy side of her life. She started making female friends, and like most women, she grew interested in men.
In 1985, at 21, she had her son and named him Betusile Mcinga. In July 2017, she got admitted to Mthatha Hospital last week for exhaustion. Her son, Betusile Mcinga, is also a singer.
Scandal
In 2011, the much-loved singer Lusanda Mcinga reportedly abducted and beat up a hawker who sold pirate copies of her music.
According to her, she traveled with other musicians to Butterworth in the Eastern Cape for an anti-piracy campaign in November.
They confiscated five thousand pirated CDs at a local market. She claimed that the hawker had a thousand pirated copies.
The hawker told her that he would show her and the musicians a Umtata-based lab which is the origin of these pirated copies. The Land Rover they traveled with had no extra space for the hawker agreed to sit in the open boot.
After suspecting the hawker was fooling around, they stopped the car and asked him to get out. Mcinga claimed to have given him R30 to transport himself home.
Being Broke
In November 2022, the gospel singer Lusanda Mcinga appeared in many publications for being broke. She pleaded for financial help from the public.
With over 26 years in the music industry, Lusanda has made a name for herself. She has sold many sold gold and platinum albums. She dropped a video in which she outlined her financial woes.
The singer asked for financial help so she could go to the studio. Banks has repossessed her cars after failing to keep up with payments.