HERU

Zodwa Wabantu sparks African spirituality debate 

She said her ancestors blessed her with her dancing and TV career, brushing off criticism that wearing ancestral beads while gyrating half-naked was disrespectful to the African culture and her calling.

The star sparked debate after a video clip emerged of her dancing at a gig in her trademark ensemble accessorised with ancestral beads.

Zodwa told TshisaLIVE she was embracing her journey and did not feel she was hindering her calling to become a sangoma in any way.

“This is my job. You know, my ancestors gave it to me. My great-grandfather was the one who was famous. All the travelling that I’ve done or I’m still doing, I don’t think they will make me live bad … [or] change my living conditions, because they know I’m their child from now, as long as I go wherever they send me.”

She plans to keep things the way they are.

“So their concern about the beads being there or not when you do your job, we have women working at KFC wearing beads in the workplace, and in corporates we have people wearing their ancestral beads. It’s just that because with me everything that I do is taboo and it’s extra.”