In a note of condolence, the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Filipe Zau, said that it was with sadness that he learned of the death of the musician and promoter of national culture.
Ilunga Mabanza da Costa, who died aged 66, was born in Saurimo, and was one of the co-founders of the group Sassa Tckowé, a music icon, contributing "significantly to the culture of Lunda-Sul".
Upon the musician's death, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), considered Rei-Dacosta an "icon of Lunda-Tchokwe culture", who united the Lunda-Tchokwe people through music.
The musician "broke the wall on the borders of Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, uniting the Lunda-Tchokwe people into one", says the note.
UNITA emphasizes that "his figure is therefore referred to as the patron of the Lunda-Tchokwe culture, whose work was engraved in the memory of the Lunda people and beyond, for all the effort and work he dedicated on behalf of his people".
