Lerato Matheka
MASERU — Popular musician Fatere was critically injured on Sunday night after he was involved in a road accident near St Agnes High School in Teyateyaneng.
Police spokesperson Inspector Masupha Masupha confirmed the incident to Xpress People on Friday.
He said the musician sustained serious injuries after the Mercedes Benz he was driving was involved in a head-on collision with another vehicle.
“One of the cars was trying to overtake,” Masupha said.
The jazz and gospel star said he was returning home from Maseru when the accident occurred.
“I had just performed at an event at Manthabiseng Convention Centre the previous night (Saturday) but because I had a few things to do in Maseru on Sunday I decided to finish them before driving back home on Sunday night,” he said.
“I must have dozed off because I was feeling a bit fatigued when the accident happened,” Fatere said in an interview with XpressPeople when the paper visited him at his Teyateyaneng home on Friday.
He added: “I suffered a fractured left thigh and broken ribs. I now experience chest pains; I have never felt such pain. My chest aches whenever I speak.”
Fatere, who was visibly in pain, is now walking with the aid of crutches.
The musician was first admitted to Berea Hospital after the accident before he was transferred to Queen Elizabeth II Hospital for an operation.
Fatere has since been discharged and is now being attended to by a doctor at his home in Teyateyaneng, about 40km north of Maseru.
He said his doctor has since advised him that he would be confined to bed for between three and four months.
The musician said the other driver who was involved in the accident is stable.
“I heard the other driver has chest pains and his eye was also injured. He is still in hospital and is in a stable condition,” he said.
The accident happened just a week before the award-winning artiste was due to release a DVD for his new gospel album titled Ikokobetse.
The album was released in January.
“This happened just a week before the release of my live DVD,” Fatere said.
“There will now be delays in the release of the DVD,” he said.
Masupha said the case would be heard in the Teyateyaneng magistrate’s court once police investigations are complete.