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Separated at birth? Zodwa and her ‘lookalike’ Lazarus Boora a.k.a Gringo. — Pictures by Munyaradzi Chamalimba

Near-naked provocateur Zodwa Wabantu has captured the world’s attention ever since her revealing dress she wore at the socialite event of the year, the Durban July which made her an overnight sensation. ROBERT MUKONDIWA, made the trek to Bulawayo to meet the socialite and get a glimpse into her lifestyle. When word got round that Bulawayo’s Club Connect would be hosting Zodwa Rebecca Liam popularly known as Zodwa Wabantu, little did the proprietor Biggie Chinoperekweyi know that he had attracted attention across the nation. Many packed their bags from as far as Harare to see the socialite sensation who in all essence is famous for being famous! At the Durban July this year, in a skimpy outfit, Zodwa Wabantu had captured South Africa and the world’s attention by dressing in a revealing outfit and no underwear, in scenes that went viral around the world. In no time at all, having Zodwa just grace your event meant she would walk away with at least 25 000 rands no less! And so it happened that on a very chilly July morning the socialite touched down at the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo international Airport in Bulawayo to grace an event at the premier Club Connect and do what she knows best; be famous! Welcomed by the notorious Altezza Crew that had travelled at speeds of up to 180 kilometres per hour with this reporter, adrenaline was soaring and Zodwa, with her skimpy outfits, was set to cause a rush of blood to the head . . . any head imaginable on the human body! She did not disappoint. While the gods were sending cold spittle onto the earth one would have thought Zodwa would finally wear underwear and something warm. But any bookmaker who bet on that certainly lost on the day. Not even the cold could get her to wrap herself in warmth as she emerged with a lace black number little more than a belt’s size that revealed her caramel coloured canvas of skin spread out like a buttery veneer. Why does she not wear under, I quizzed her when we finally got a one-on-one. “It does not make me comfortable,” was her sure-shot answer. “I am me. A woman and I know who I am. I do not need to have underwear or other people to define me. I am comfortable without underwear and that is the way I will stay,” she boldly declared without thinking twice. She went on to challenge me to go at least a week without wearing the same. I obliged; and failed. But perhaps the most unnerving is how tens of men made the journey from all around the country to go and see her over that weekend. “She is a phenomenon and we all want to get to see someone who turns heads like that. She has a sort of allure that men want and look for,” said one of the men who travelled to Bulawayo to see Zodwa in the flesh as it were. “She doesn’t wear makeup and sometimes we want that in a person. A real person with reality we can see,” he added. And carnally hungry eyes licked her skin everywhere she went as she caused traffic jams and moist eyes whilst mixing and mingling with the crowds in Bulawayo’s central business district while the Altezza crew sent their car horns crazy. “The beauty of Zodwa is that she does not show us everything and kind of teases us men. Men like to be teased and that is why I am here. To see her toy with people’s emotions,” said Alfred who was coy about giving out his second name. My wife thinks I have gone for a work convention,” he confided in me much like a devout Catholic may confide to his priest in confessional. There was something that her outfit said to people who looked at her as Alfred said. Something that did indeed toy with people’s emotions. Something that said ‘look but don’t touch, touch but don’t taste, taste but don’t swallow. Something like the forbidden fruit in the centre of the Garden of Eden. “This is immoral,” said a lone voice in the wilderness. But that voice was the exception not the rule. The rest of the people were terribly happy to meet and touch Zodwa. Touch her in a dignified way however. She took selfies with adoring masses. Mothers, sisters, brothers, friends and little boys. All who could see through her lace to her rather intimate geo-locations. She didn’t mind. She also didn’t mind that people say she looks like Gringo-Lazarus Boora, a man. He was there to welcome her. They were separated at birth, claim malicious people who see them. Yet she embraces him and smiles and says she gets that a lot; being told she looks like a man! “I am a person who comes from the people. I am owned by the people. I am not a show-offer. That is why I am called Zodwa Wabantu. Zodwa, owned by the people,’ she later said. And yet of course she shows of some things to be honest. And in the evening at the event she crawled into a few bits of fabric and attended the event at Club Connect. It was epic how people turned out just for her. The lady with fabric on her body. Club Connect was packed to the rafters. Then they actually had to build new rafters and it became packed to those too! All for the socialite who does nothing but feed visual carnal desires. And after speaking to the crowd, revealing herself and blowing a few kisses to the people after a mock dance, her event and her ‘act’ was done and that was money in the bank. Just like that! “Next I want to come to Harare,” she boldly declared after giving me a hug at the end of the interview; I could smell that realness-the cinnamon scent on her skin with no Givenchy scent and the velvety canvas that covers her as skin. Either I give such good hugs she wanted to follow me to Harare. That, or the simple fact that when she comes to Harare she has to be paid another 25 000 rands to ‘appear’. And who wouldn’t want to come to Harare when they are paid that much? In fact, who would decline a visit to war torn Afghanistan if they are to be paid such an amount to appear? She broke the bank and revealed a new trend. That without make up and with little more than a metre of fabric, you can become a big celebrity no less. And now for Zodwa Wabantu, Harare awaits. “It was overwhelming the response we got,” says Biggie, “we shall certainly do it again!”