Nkosinathi Innocent Maphumulo, popularly known as DJ Black Coffee, is one of the most accomplished personalities in Mzansi whose name is known far and wide across the globe.

Considered among the richest celebrities in South Africa and among the richest entertainers in Africa, Black Coffee is an internationally acclaimed, multi-award-winning deejay who also dabbles as a music producer and a businessman.

And while his success and stories of conquest always dominate our headlines, DJ Black Coffee is only human, and like us all, he too has his “shortcomings” and his is on his left hand, which for the longest time he tried to hide from the public’s eye.

Here is a look at what exactly happened to Black Coffee’s hand and arm and why he thinks he wouldn’t be a great deejay if he could work with both of his hands.

What is wrong with Black Coffee’s hand?

After decades of keeping the story about his left hand and arm private, in 2017, Black Coffee came clean about what happened to it during an interview with Anele Mdoda on Real Talk.

During the interview, the internationally acclaimed DJ narrated how on the eve of the late Nelson Mandela’s release in 1990, he and his grandmother joined the crowds in celebrating the big event.

Black Coffee

At around 3 or 4 am, he heard a loud blast that sounded like a gunshot, he blacked out and when he later woke up, there was fire and people including himself were being rushed to the hospital. Apparently, a taxi had veered off the road and bumped into people who had lined the streets.

At the hospital, doctors examined Black Coffee’s hand and concluded that it was just a minor fracture and sent him home but the pain was too much and after one day, his grandmother sent him to a hospital in Durban where he consulted with a specialist.

After examination, the doctor revealed that the nerves on his shoulder were damaged and that there was no life and his arm and they even considered amputating it. Fortunately, the doctor told him that his hand was not completely damaged and although they ruled out amputation, he was told that it would take time for the hand to ever regain strength.

Black Coffee, who has learnt to live with his hand, revealed that he often feels some sensation on his hand but he didn’t have hopes of ever working with it saying that God had put him in that space for a reason and that he couldn’t imagine himself deejaying with two hands as he would probably suck.

Why did Black Coffee stop wearing arm braces?

Still talking to Anele Mdoda, Black Coffee further revealed how he had been bullied by kids while he was growing up because of his hand and for a long time, he stopped wearing an arm brace.

But after years of keeping his arm concealed, the deejay who is trying to be a good role model to his children in teaching them to be true to themselves is all about embracing himself.

“We all have little or big things that we don’t like about ourselves and we often put ourselves down before other people do. I’m personally working towards breaking those chains in my space, and I believe with this, I’m gonna unlock even more opportunities for myself. Don’t let anything pull you down.” He said.

We hope that the story of Black Coffee’s hand inspires you today. Firstly, not to let your physical shortcomings get in the way of your success. And secondly, we all have flaws and shortcomings- every single one of us.