Zodwa Wabantu fast losing appeal

By Kiyapili Sibanda

Entertainer Zodwa Wabantu, who had hinted that she will retire from the showbiz scene in 2019, may be forced to quit earlier as she seems to be fast reaching her sell by date, if recent events are anything to go by.

When she was introduced onto the scene two years ago, Zodwa – who was famed simply for dancing without underwear – instantly became hot property as people, especially males, could not resist her appetising body and appealing dance moves.

Her impact matched that of raunchy dancer, Bev Sibanda, during her hey days.But now, it seems Zodwa Wabantu, who has made a killing from club appearances across the continent that has seen her buy a house and a car, may need to come up with another business plan as more and more countries are banning her from performing in their territories because of her ‘immoral’ behaviour.

The recent deportation of Zodwa Wabantu from Zambia did not come as a surprise as the Zimbabwean and Lesotho governments also banned her from performing in their countries. Like their Zimbabwean counterparts, the Zambians felt that the dancer’s public performances undermined the country’s “national values”.

Most are of the opinion that Zodwa, whose attention was now on these appearances, urgently needs to go back to the drawing board and maybe try to venture into other areas like acting if she does not want her overnight career to die down.

Other than the bans, Zodwa is no longer that popular among fans as her time is simply up. Her attitude may also be the cause of her downfall as her own boss – DJ Tira of Afrotainment – has at one point had to call her out in public to discipline her for her foul language among other issues which he felt were tarnishing her image and that of Afrotainment.

Some promoters, such as Zimbabwe’s Devine Assignments, have also vowed never to work with her because of her unprofessional conduct after she failed to pitch up for shows in the country on two occasions.

“Our patience has worn thin and barring a very spectacular explanation from Zodwa, we won’t be having any further dealings with her. We’d paid her and we’re treating this unfortunate incident of bad faith, unprofessionalism and outright deceit as fraud,”

Devine Assignments said in a statement when they were duped by Zodwa. It remains to be seen how the Queen of Vosho and her management will turn things around in regaining the thin faith that the promoters and fans now have in her otherwise this may just mark the end of her blistering career.

Taking to her Instagram account last year, Zodwa admitted that her time in the industry would soon be up saying by January 2019, she would retire. She said she was considering venturing into acting when she retires from her pantyless dancing industry, something she is already doing as she appeared on Uzalo last month.  The Chronicle