ONLY a few months after emerging as the toast of the
Zimbabwean music scene back in 2003, Sandra Ndebele was confronted with the
realities of being a female performer when media reports surfaced alleging that
she had taken a trip to Austria to get herself cured of HIV/Aids.
At a time when stigma and discrimination against the
illness was still at an all-time high, Ndebele found herself at odds with the
media in Zimbabwe when reports that she had gone overseas to get herself
“cured” surfaced.
This was in 2003, the same year that Ndebele had released
her smash hit album, Tshaya Tshaya.
Ndebele had taken the industry by storm with hit singles
Mama and Malaika, announcing her arrival on the entertainment scene with songs
that shot straight to the top of the charts. Not only was Ndebele a hit on the
charts, she also captivated audiences with her colourful traditional outfits
and daring live performances that won her many admirers and detractors.
Seventeen years after rapid and awe-inspiring emergence,
Ndebele is still one of the most recognisable stars in local showbiz. A
decade-and-a-half later Sandy, as she is commonly known to fans, still believes
she got a raw deal from local media. While she got excessive coverage on her
way to becoming the apple of Zimbabweans’ obsession, not all the headlines were
kind. Two trips to South Africa and Austria produced a couple of screaming
headlines she still remembers to this day.
“2003 was my first time going to Joburg. I went to South
Africa for two weeks so I came back, maybe it was change of environment and
everything, I came back a bit lighter and I had gained a little weight and so
newspapers started running on me. The first thing they said was that I had gone
to Joburg to do a boob job.
“That was the first thing. I cried and cried. Then the
second thing after a year . . . I had gone to Austria. When I came back, they
said I had gone to Austria to get cured of Aids,” she told lifestyle group
Ndebeles Connect during an interview on their Instagram page last week.
Promiscuity was another charge levelled against her as she
was put on trial in the court of public opinion.
“Then the Aids issue passed then there was no man that they
didn’t say I passed through. That’s why I say of the things that I did; nothing
was written about,” she said.
While fame had brought financial independence for a fresh-faced
girl that had been recently weaned from Iyasa, it brought its fair share of
problems. A supportive family, she said, had got her through the tough times.
“If you’ve got a strong family background it really helps.
I remember this other time an article that was talking about me came out and
the first call that I got at 6am that day was to confirm if I did it and I said
no, I would never do such a thing. I knew that at least that side of things had
now been managed. I had not done it.
“I remember this other time, when I launched Brand Sandra
Ndebele, towards the end of 2003 I could now afford to take myself for a
massage. The Nkulumane girl could now take herself to places. We used to shop
at Edgars and I could now afford to shop for clothes I wanted without thinking
about where the money would come from,” she said.
The negative coverage she got at the time convinced her
that the Zimbabwean showbiz scene was no place for a woman. Others, without her
thick skin, also started shying away from an unforgiving and unkind life in the
spotlight.
“That’s why I say there are no female musicians because
they are scared. I will give you an example, I remember one time when Fungisai
(Zvakavapano-Mashavave) launched her album wearing leather boots and leather
jackets, the whole media fraternity started saying she is now dressed like a
worldly person because she is wearing leather pants and everything.
“But Mahendere Brothers went on and did the same thing and
they were wearing leather jackets and they were dancing and throwing bums but
because they’re boys no one said it was wrong. Everyone started celebrating
them and saying they were right. We wore our skimpy skirts and they said we
were gyrating. They forgot the cultural aspect. Maybe it is because we had introduced
cleanliness to the tradition,” she said laughing.
Ndebele said while traditional groups that regularly
performed in revealing traditional outfits were left unscathed, female artistes
who attempted to so on their own were given the harshest of treatment.
“We have seen a lot of traditional groups, wearing what I
used to wear but you’d never hear people name-shaming those groups and saying
this is wrong. Be it mbakumba dancers or be it sitshikitsha dancers or be it
amabhiza or Tswana dancers everyone dressed like that but there are no names
attached to them. I was a victim of that but as time went on, I was like ahh
okay, it takes only one person to take his person and write saying uMaNde is so
and so. So, I decided that I shouldn’t mind and I should push my agenda and
prove everyone wrong,” she said.
For Ndebele, over a decade-and-a-half in showbiz has
exposed double standards in industry, as foreign performers are revered for
doing the same things that she has been doing over the duration of her
evergreen career.
“I was attached to every dead thing you can imagine. They
would say I’m half naked on stage. But because I don’t know, culturally we’re
not ready as people to embrace our own culture. They would prefer to watch
Beyoncé wearing a swimming costume but if Sandy wears a swimming costume today,
they will say this woman with three (children) is wearing swimming costumes,
why? But they would pay $100 to see Beyoncé wearing a swimming costume.
Personally, I feel like those attacks and those write-ups killed the female
side of the industry, that’s why you don’t see a lot of Sandra Ndebeles. There
are few people with the bravery to accept things like that,” she said.
Despite the tears, the heartbreaks and the setbacks,
Ndebele insisted that she was still going strong. A husband and three children
later, she is still the same old Sandy.
“From 2003 up to now I’m still in the game. I haven’t
stopped and I’m not stopping any time soon. Until we have 20 Sandras I’m not
stopping anytime soon. Personally, the music side of things I don’t take it as
a hobby, I take it as a business and I want to monetise. Even if I don’t
monetise through selling my CDs or public performance, I have to use this face
to make money, if this face is relevant at any time you know you’re able to
make money,” she said. Sunday News
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