Bev and Zoey arrested for indecent public acts in nightclubs

Popular strip dancers, Zoey Sifelani and Beverley Sibanda, were arrested in Harare yesterday for public indecency.
According to "The Chronicle" the arrested followed an outcry from the public after a local tabloid published semi-nude pictures of the two raunchy dancers performing what appeared to be pornography on stage.

Both Zoey and Beverley were picked up around 11am and were taken to the Commercial Crime Unit at Harare Central Police Station where they were interviewed for hours.
Sibanda's manager Harpers Mapimhidze yesterday confirmed the two's arrest and said they were still in police custody late last night.
"I accompanied them to the police station and they had their operating permits with them. They are both registered with the Dancers Association of Zimbabwe and the Censorship Board.
"The police have been questioning them, but I am not yet clear on the charges that would be preferred against the two," he said.
Police spokesperson Inspector Tedious Chibanda confirmed the dancers' arrest over their indecent public acts in nightclubs.
"We are yet to find the charges to prefer against them but at the moment we are questioning them about their dressing and alleged public indecency," said Insp Chibanda.
The arrest comes barely two days after Police Chief Superintendent Oliver Mandipaka issued a stern warning to popular female dancers including the two that they risked being arrested for public indecency.
Chief Supt Mandipaka said female dancers who were in the habit of stripping and dancing in semi-nude attire should desist from such acts.
He said it was tantamount to public indecency.
"Dancing is not bad if they dance with their clothes on but when they remove their clothes and become semi naked in full view of the public, then it becomes an offence.
"That is not acceptable and if they continue doing that they will be arrested and charged with public indecency. Besides, that is against our moral values as a nation," Chief Supt Mandipaka said.
Of late, Zoey and Beverley's dress and dance routines had become sexually provocative, where they would invite male revellers to join them on stage, while dressed in their bikinis, monokinis and see-through tights.
Their acts were causing a public outcry, with some calling for the banning of pole dancing in local clubs.
On several occasions, some male revellers reportedly abused the two while on stage.
Zoey claims to have pioneered pole dancing in Zimbabwe although she has reiterated that it had nothing to do with stripping while Beverley has literally taken her dance to another level.
The two were expected to clash in a debut pole dancing competition at one of Harare's nightclubs, City Sports Bar, on Friday night.
Pole dance is a form of performing art, a combination of dance and gymnastics.
It involves dancing and performing acrobatic tricks with a vertical pole and is an increasingly popular form of fitness and dance practised by many enthusiasts in gyms or dedicated dance studios.
Before the mid 2000s, pole dance mainly took place in strip clubs.
Since then, promoters of pole dance fitness competitions have been trying to change people's perception of pole dance and to promote it as a legitimate form of dance and acrobatics.