Pakela hitched - Mercy finds love
ALTHOUGH the age difference is a huge gap of 25 years between her and her fiance, Mzansi's '80s pop sensation Mercy Pakela is ready to walk down the isle with the man of her dreams.
GLOWING: Musician Mercy PhakelaThe girl from New Brighton in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape, who arrived in Joburg in 1982 searching for stardom at the age of 16, is getting hitched by her white fiancée.
"This is Mercy's man," he introduces himself on the phone. "I confirm that I'm indeed seeing her. Yes, we are engaged to get married soon. I call her my little pint size. She is like my little girl. She stimulates me non-stop. She has a mind of her own."
Pakela, of Ayashis' Amateki and Ndizokulinda fame doesn't doubt that she has found love this time around.
"I met a man, a white guy and we are engaged," she says with a glowing face. "In fact if it weren't for the traditional processes, we would be married by now.
"It's impossible not to love someone who has loved me like this man has."
Asked for this man's identity, she refuses, only saying: "he's 71. He has two old children. He's French but can speak Afrikaans and of course English. He likes saying 'Mercy why are you asking me for money. You have money now' and I guess it hasn't sunk in from all those 20 years of suffering".
She says her star began to wane after the death of her mother back in 1992.
"After that, things went downhill. I went from door to door asking for help from people I knew. Many couldn't be bothered. I couldn't believe it was the same people I had mentored before they made it big in the music business. Kingdoms do rise and fall, like mine.
"Only the late Brenda Fassie would give me real support. She would even open her car boot and give me clothes and good money. Chicco would sometimes help me with accommodation."
Pakela says she met her "sweetheart" after a series of microphone wrestling with a live band at Emperors Palace. "They didn't need me but I would jump right onto the stage to join them. Sometimes they paid me R200 sometimes they wouldn't.
"And I would spend the night just loitering about the casino, waiting for the morning to break. Mostly I sat in the patrons section and this man would come and join me. He would buy me drinks. Sometimes he gave me money and at times he would write me a cheque. I'm sure the banks at the airport were sick of my R500 cheques," she laughs.
"One day he asked me out on a date and I agreed. He asked me to meet him at a clothing chain store," he says.
"There I picked a dress. Then came a new headache. Where will I put the dress on? He said he could take me to my place. When I told him I had no place or friends I felt his pity."
Today though, she enjoys a monthly allowance of R15000 and lives in a B&B in Houghton where she pays R7500 a month.
ngudlea@sundayworld.co.za; or Twitter @amandan777
Comments
Mwelase
Habe ufunani kulekhehla Mercy? Imali impande yesono.Bra007
Hahaha Mwelase..iqola likaGogo leli, andwebile amaXhosa lolSLY007
Hamba uye emzini wena ntombazana. Kwowu! uJambase besele edude wancama ke kodwa...kukuyalethosa1
Sh's like dynasour. All eople of her generation re dead of AIDS or Diabetes or witchcraft...shes still here. Long live Phakela long live.Why is she wasting such a lo of money on B&Bs? She should buy a house. I can sell her my own.
kukuyalethosa1
I wonder how old is she? Eish, asadi ba Mathosa, they're willy and witty.LeeBee
goes to show how stupid, how do struggle for 20yrs and the minutes you get 15000 allowance you stay ko B&B, why ant you buying you own house when you go down again Chicco wont assist with accomodation, mxmKeabetsweLeshumu
i agree,the old man is gonna die soon,his kids take all their dues and she will go back to begging,R7500 a year she can buy a good house and own something before the curtain closes on her,poor woman,psssstnaughtynaughty
Sori LeeBee - support yu 100% Buying / Building a house is her solution and keep Quiet Mercy as old as yu- R yu Stil Runing to de Papers.Nincompoop
You should be saving the money been paid for the B & B fool, he dumps you, you will be back to where you were.Plain_Truth
God Bless you Mercy and good luck. Let the typical cheap Sundayworld comments scroll down your timeless body like passing rain. Remember, there are those of us who witnessed your trials throughout your time in Jo'burg. If this 71 years old gentleman is the belated ONE in your life, so be it! Everything is temporal in life. To hell with Sundayworld readers with typical Bantu PHD Syndrome!TerryMandizha
i agree with u Plain Truth this world is full of haterz i wish her all the best here in Zim we love and we enjoy her music up to now.KeabetsweLeshumu
well,hell,money buys love,did he really pity you like that,if only those stupid philosophers knew where to buy love if you are loaded,goodluck to you hope you made sure he does not eat for free,you better get a will with that service you render.zazezizozuzoooooooooooooooooo
Twenty years wasted. Had you find a job, even as a cleaner, you would be somewhere today. I guess you never supported your family when you had it all, that is why you could not go back to PE. I hope you are old and wise now, don't repeat your past mistakes, and don't ever depend on a man, do something with the money he gives you to improve your life!Read all 24 comments