Walking into the TshisaLIVE offices dressed in expensive clothing, jewellery and custom shades, Robbie Malinga Jnr looks calm and more mature than most of his 17-year-old peers.
It’s only been seven months since music producer Robbie Malinga died and his son Robbie Malinga Jnr says he still often breaks down with grief over the loss of his “hero”.
He sits down for our interview and immediately seems comfortable with opening up about his late father, lifestyle and mercurial rise to fame.
And while he seems in control when the cameras are on, Robbie Malinga Jnr says it is a different story when he is alone and missing his dad.
“It’s been hard. I feel like I was very close to my dad. We were like twins and wherever he went, I would go with him. We were so close and now that he is gone the process of adjusting to everything is tough.
The way I deal with it is to cry, mostly I cry. I also get really sad but being with my family helps me. My father taught me to stick close to my family in such moments. I am still healing and in time I will get there.”
This was Robbie Jnr’s message on Fathers day: Gone but you’ll forever be my everything , happy Father’s Day to the man who made me who I am today I’ll forever cherish you Rest In Peace dad I love you . 🥀
Robbie remembered the last few days before his father’s death, being near his side and listening to his stories. He said that even though his father was sick, he would make time to spend time with him and his young sister.
“It hits (me) hardest on Sunday afternoons,” Robbie says with a contemplative smile. For a moment Robbie sits still in his chair and the mood is more sombre.
“That was family time. Proper family time. I now spend time listening to jazz or his unreleased music when it hits me. Everything happens for a reason, I think, and we will know the reason one day.”
The 17-year-old said he now lives to work hard and carry on his father’s legacy. But that hasn’t stopped Robbie Jnr’s haters from claiming he is showing off with fancy cars and designer jewels to distract himself from the grief.
“People who are concerned with me, the people that matter, contact my mother. The rest is speculation. I am a minor, I can’t touch the money left to me and, secondly, my mother would never let me be reckless or irresponsible. She knows everything I do and she trusts me. All my needs have been met since (I was born) and I am grateful for that. Especially my father, he provided for me until his last breath.”
Robbie said he was not concerned with what was being said about him, especially after he used his father’s Instagram account to post pictures of his expensive lifestyle.
“People feel like they know me. They don’t know me. They don’t know anything about me… even when I started posting on Instagram, I said that I was experimenting with styles and things. I see the criticism and I laugh. I am a guy who likes to laugh.”
What about the other criticisms? Like…
“When they said I only have five braids, I laughed. I thought it was humorous because even I know that I have more than five dreads. They can say I am ugly. They can say I only have five dreads but I have a high self-esteem and what they say about me doesn’t matter.”
Claims that he’s reckless
“I am not reckless. I know how to balance everything in my life. Schooling, social life, everything is balanced. So I am fine. I saw the reaction I got when I decided to take a break from social media to focus on school, they went from hating me to wanting me to come back.”
Those Twitter outbursts
”There is a fake account on Twitter, Robbie Malinga spelt with one b, that is disrespecting other people and that is not me…that is not me, so don’t ever think that is me saying rude things. I am a people’s person.”
Source: Times Live
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