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ALL SMILES . . . Beverly Sibanda (left) and Catherine Nyangoni of PHD Ministries soon after the official opening of her shop

Jonathan Mbiriyamveka Entertainment  Reporter—-
The much-hyped official opening of Beverly “Bev” Sibanda’s clothing shop yesterday was a damp squib  after Prophet Walter Magaya and his wife failed to turn up for the ribbon-cutting event. Instead, there were vegetable and airtime vendors, passers-by and journalists from different media houses who swarmed the cubical shop along Kwame Nkrumah Avenue. “The prophet could not come because there was going to be chaos.

“We learnt from his last visit when scores of people thronged the shop and the situation got out of hand,” said Hapaguti Mapimhidze, the manager of the shop.

Prophet Magaya and his wife as well as the rank and file from his Prophetic Healing and Deliverance  Ministries to which Bev is now a member were conspicuously absent at the event.

In an interview Bev, an erotic dancer-turned-businesswoman, confirmed she was a bit nervous but happy to run her own clothing shop.
“I feel great but at the same time I am a bit nervous,” she said, adding that, “I still miss being on stage, I love dancing.”

Beverly cuts the ribbon at the official opening of her shop

She said most of her former group members — The Sexy Angels — were also running their own small businesses.
“At this point most of the members now have passports which means they can do cross-border trading or venture into other businesses,” she said.

In the shop there are some trendy outfits, mostly casual wear, as well as accessories including perfumes, belts and what have you. Bev’s conversion to Christianity was a shocker to many as it happened almost overnight.

From being an arrogant stripper and dancer who dared to use bottles in one of her routines to being a church-goer was in itself proof of God’s love.
Catherine Nyangoni, who attended the opening ceremony, spoke of how Bev within two weeks after joining PHD received her prophecy from Prophet  Magaya.

The crowd that swarmed otuside Bev’s shop in Harare

“She came to PHD and after two weeks the prophet spotted her and asked her if she was ready to live a new life,” he said, amid cheers from the crowd.