The inspiration gig that Bonang Matheba plays for young women the continent over is surely done, says Therese Owen.
Johannesburg - There is a classic scene in the Eighties film 9½ Weeks where Kim Basinger performs a sexy strip show for Mickey Rourke to the Joe Cocker song You Can Leave Your Hat On.
By leaving only her hat on, that scene made Basinger the legendary sex kitten we knew and loved. Although she later won an Oscar for her role in LA Confidential, she was mostly typecast after that as the siren with the squeaky scream.
While human beings love to leave their hats on, we also love to judge celebrities who leave their hats on. It makes us feel better about ourselves and, let’s face it, who doesn’t like to indulge in salacious gossip every now and then?
The Kardashians have turned leaving their hats on into a billion-dollar industry. Would Kim and her buttocks have had longevity if she hadn’t married the most famous rapper in the world, outside of Jay Z? It wouldn’t be surprising if her stepfather Caitlyn Jenner soon started dating Ru Paul.
Speaking of Jay Z, his South African namesake is believed to have left his hat on wherever and whenever, from the infamous shower scene to his myriad wives and alleged shenanigans, perhaps even with ex and current heads of parastatals.
Fingers are pointed, stories are published. Does Number One react? Not at all. He carries on as if there’s no Nkandla.
Similarly, Steve Hofmeyr has left his hat on in many a dorp across the country. Did this dent his career?
Not at all. He is still considered a “held” by tannies young and old.
Princess Diana, on the other hand, defiantly left her hat on with Dodi Fayed, displaying her long, slim body in bikinis on his yacht in the Mediterranean. It is widely believed that she called photographers to take those pictures as part of her game of thrones with the Windsors. Not long after, she was dead.
Back in South Africa, kwaito artist and social activist Zola left his hat on with both celebrities and fans alike, although he was the moral compass of our youth and spoke out about the rights of women. But then a war broke out between the star and his record label Ghetto Ruff. Women crawled out of the woodwork, claiming all sorts of bad behaviour with the man, and his once-shining career has never quite recovered.
Which brings us to Bonang Matheba, who has left her hat on with a few famous men since she first came to our attention as a presenter on SABC1’s Live – and has used them to further her career.
She first had a widely publicised relationship with Skwatta Kamp’s Slikour. At the time, the act was the biggest rap group in the country and Bonang was just a cute, excitable girl with an oddly deep voice, interviewing musicians on a TV show.
Things turned bad when she apparently left her hat on with co-presenter Andile Ncube. Slikour lost his temper and lashed out on Facebook (Twitter had not yet reached South Africa). Bonang, however, took it in her stride. After all, bad publicity is good publicity.
Then, as her career began to take off, she found herself another famous man in the form of DJ Euphonik. The tabloids had a field day with their fiery relationship.
By this stage, Bonang had taken to new arrival Twitter like a fish to water. In fact, she was one of the first South African celebrities to realise the power of Twitter and today has a massive following, living her life like a reality TV show in that arena.
Between her work on Top Billing, as well as the daily Afternoon Espresso, both on SABC3, a mid-morning show on Metro FM every week day, as well as being the face of Revlon, all coloured by her penchant for appearances on every possible red carpet, the woman has a pretty demanding schedule.
But when things started going wrong recently, and she became the subject of lascivious gossip, we witnessed the other side of the star. First, it was reported her longtime man Euphonik had bliksemed her and Bonang had vowed to lay charges.
Then she retracted.
When that relationship ended, rumours abounded again in the tabloids and on social media that she was dating Africa’s biggest music star D’Banj, with one paper going as far as to speculate whether they were going to be Africa’s Beyoncé and Jay Z. Bonang publicly kissed him at the MTV Africa Music Awards in Durban and it was all like a Nollywood fairy tale.
But just a few weeks after that, D’Banj went onto social media and declared his undying love for some other babe. Oops, sorry for you.
The spectacle deepened last month when Bonang’s public spat with DJ Zinhle caused many, women in particular, to question her image. Speculation emerged that Bonang had been leaving her hat on with none other than the country’s biggest rapper, AKA, while his then-girlfriend, DJ Zinhle, was pregnant with their child.
Zinhle and AKA had always tried to keep their relationship under wraps as Zinhle is all about her work. But when she finally published on her blog that AKA had admitted to the relationship with Bonang, it was instead Bonang who acted like the scorned woman. As we well remember, Bonang ultimately lashed out and sent lawyers’ letters to Zinhle.
To top it all, Bonang had another hissy fit when she found out that fellow TV presenter and It girl Pearl Thusi was leaving her hat on with Euphonik.
While all of this simmers, there are questions begging to be answered. What happens to the psyche of Bonang’s many young woman fans when they see her get self-righteous on a woman after leaving her hat on with that woman’s man, but chooses not to go the legal route on her own partner, who supposedly abused her? And then, when that man moves on to another babe, Bonang attacks her on Twitter?
Bonang is entitled to leave her hat on with whoever, whenever. But the inspiration gig that she plays for young women the continent over is surely done.
A woman who respects the dignity of other women does not behave as if all women are her enemy. It’s a dangerous game and could yet be her downfall.
* The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
The Star