Robert Mugabe jnr speaks out

Robert Mugabe Jnr has revealed that people need to stop complaining about pricing and must simply work hard to afford the things that they wish to buy. In an interview with a South African radio station, DEXTERITY, Robert spoke at length about his clothing label xGx and shot down suggestions that it is expensive with some of the T-Shirts reportedly selling for over $200 each saying it is time for the rest of the world to say "African stuff is expensive" because Africa has the real wealth in its minerals.

Robert also spoke about how he handles negative media reports, how his mother is nicknamed Gucci Grace, whether he is in a relationship and what life was like growing up in the then President Robert Mugabe's household. He was live on Instagram as the interview was conducted. Read on for his responses to the different questions . . .


Q. How do you deal with negative media reports?
A. I don't listen or pay attention to them, they don't feed my soul with what I want to feed my soul with. I want to feed myself with positivity and if I am constantly focusing on the negative media then I'm gonna pull myself around with that negative energy. What you put inside of you is what you end up giving to other people, it's what you end up being. So . . . if there is positive media I pay attention to positive media, if there is positive comments I pay attention to positive comments. The rest . . . I don't pay attention.

Q. Your love for fashion?
A. Fashion is my passion. The love for fashion; it came from my mom. I just grew up like that. I was attracted to certain items, certain clothing pieces, certain things that were different or designed differently. So that's what mainly attracted me when I was young so as I grew up I realized oh this a passion, it's my gift, something I have a gift for. Its natural – I can't pass by something styled nice or a piece of clothing and not love it, not comment or analyse it in a certain way.

Q. Your mom has been nicknamed Gucci Grace, how does she feel about that?
A. Well she is saved in my phone as Gucci Grace (laughs) no I'm playing. I mean, she likes dressing nice and funny enough, she doesn't even have Gucci in her closet so I guess it's just because (of the) "G". I like the name now cause a lot of people love Gucci, you gotta love Gucci, you gotta love Grace.

Q. Your brand?
A. My brand is xGx – focus on the G cause the x's are in small letters with the capital G. I have always wanted to take my totem, which is Gushungo, well the name of my totem is Gushungo. People call us Gushungos, the Gushungo tribe, we come from the animal totem of crocodile, so the name in our language is Gushungo.

So for me I'm very patriotic so . . .

Q. Are you currently in a relationship?
A. Am I? Yes I am depending on the type of relationship, there are a lot of relationships.

Q. How do manage to screen between potential lovers and gold diggers considering people know who you are.
A. Some women would want, would expect to get with a man just for what he has; maybe not with me but I have seen it happen to my friends and to people around me.

I figured ok, time tells. Be with someone or know someone for a years, hang out with them and they are gonna show you their true colours and what they really are, unless they are incredibly patient. There is no one who is gonna spend two years, three years with a man and not show what they really are and that's what I've done with any girl I've been with. I've shown her the true side of who I am and what I offer not money theory but me and if she's down with me she can show me she's down and if she wants something else, I'll see . . . it's about patience, you can't tell in two months, you can't tell in six months. Time tells.

Q. How was it growing up in president Mugabe's household, did you play with other kids or did you just stay indoors the whole time?
A. What I really love about how I grew up was schooling; I know a lot of Zimbabweans can testify, the school you go to is what you become. It's where you spend most of your day.

I'd wake up 6am or 5:30, spend the whole day at school and come back at 5pm. So most of those hours I wasn't inside the house with my parents, I was at school. When I was home it just family time so I'd get a lot of friends at school and my parents knew what type of school it was.

I went to St Michael's grade 1-3, Hartman House Grade 4-7 for my primary education so that's what brought me up. And High School was when I went to a boarding school and it turned into a rock, a rock on the outside. I mean inside I'm a loving guy, I'm a caring guy but I'm a rock, I'm a soft rock – you can't throw things at me.

Q. How do you juggle all the things in your life?
A. It's not hard but it's not easy you have to be dedicated, you have to sacrifice you have to know your purpose as a human being. If you don't know your purpose you're gonna spend a lot of time on other things that aren't meant for you.

Me, I will never lose focus of doing something that I love. I'm working on one of my passions . . . and I actually have that as an advantage, you have to stick with what you love.

Q. You have a nice voice, have you ever thought of being a rapper?
A. I used to rap. Then I realized when I stopped rapping, I became less (conscious) so I realized oh, ok that's one side rap can help me with – my vocal conscience. Everyone is a musician, you just don't know it

Everyone is a musician you just gotta have a voice, you can do something with your voice; you can communicate something with your voice through rap, through speaking or through poetry so it's just another means of me expressing myself so yeah, I guess you can say I do have (been a rapper).

Q. I understand you also have a hand in entertainment?
A. No, that's my younger brother. I am involved on the other side because entertainment people when they come in, what they wear is important and that's where xGx comes in.

Q. Let's talk about xGx cause there were reports that your T-Shirts are priced rather steeply. Is your brand expensive?
A. It's a funny story about the T-Shirts, really, really funny story. My brand is expensive for those who think it's expensive. I look at Gucci now and I don't think it's expensive. . . . it's not that I can afford it or somebody else can't afford it but if you can't afford it, stop complaining. Stop expecting people to lower things down for you, beat your limit. If you see yourself complaining about something, ask yourself why you are complaining about it, and ask yourself why other people can afford it and how they got to afford that thing. Maybe it's not those people who can afford it or people who are pricey, maybe it's just you and what you think life is supposed to be for you. So why don't you put yourself in a position to afford everything! And then you will be fine, you won't be complaining. So I priced it because I want people to value xGx clothing so when it comes out from our workshop, it becomes your identity so they need to value that. If you buy something for $5, are you really gonna value it compared to something you got for $200. People put covers on their iPhones to protect the iPhone so that nothing happens to it but no one will put a cover on a five dollar phone. So we need a mindset change as Africans. We need other people complaining saying African stuff is very expensive, we have to put it out there. That is where Africa should be, that's where Africa is, we have the minerals.

My online store just came out today actually, it's xGx.com