Gringo excited to meet Zodwa Wabantu

Actor Lazarus Boora aka Gringo who travelled all the way from Harare last week just to meet his purported sister Zodwa Wabantu, says he was excited to meet the South African entertainer, describing her as his carbon copy.

Gringo who was in Bulawayo for three days initially met Zodwa Wabantu at the Joshua Mqabuko Airport before partying with her at Club Connect last Saturday.

Memes of him with Zodwa had been created with many saying the two looked alike, something that prompted Gringo to travel to Bulawayo to meet Zodwa and see if they indeed look alike.

And after they met, Gringo said he was thrilled.

"I was happy when I met her. I realised that in life, there might be people who look like me, but not like Zodwa Wabantu. The only difference between Zodwa and me is that I'm now bald and she has a full set of spiky kinky hair that I also used to have.

"Besides that, we look alike," said Gringo.

He said after interacting with her, he realised he could learn a lot from her as she was a woman who knew how to make money by using her dancing talent.

"Zodwa has her own talent. She was born with a lot of talents and has a good understanding of people and how to relate to them. She knows how to turn that talent into a money-making scheme, something which inspired me.

"This is a very important trait that as fellow artistes we should learn and have."

On his stay here, Gringo said he felt at home as he was received warmly by fans.

"When I was in Bulawayo, I never saw anyone fight showing how peaceful the city is because in some other places, with the number of people who thronged the club where Zodwa was, a lot of fights would have been witnessed but not in Bulawayo.

"I realised that they're a fun loving people," he said.

Turning to his career, Gringo said there was a project in the pipeline which was being held up by lack of  funds.

"We've a production that we're working on. The three scripts are there for the series of Gringo, but what we need is money. We've had to cut down on costs here and there so that we come up with a workable budget. We're still failing to come up with the required money which is about $26 000."

A Zodwa Wabantu impersonator, Trino Bambino who was also at the party said what made her interaction special was that Zodwa accepted her and offered her tips* as well.

"At first, I thought she'd be a snob especially considering that many locals here had warmed up to me as their Zodwa, but I was in for a surprise as she showed me a lot of love.

"I discovered why she's called a people's person as she's fun loving, patient and likes to make people happy without caring what people say," said Trino Bambino.

She said during their time together, they spoke about life in general and a possible visit to South Africa.

"We spoke about life in general and how as women, we could change the perception that people have of us. She also taught me her dance routines and encouraged me to do whatever I want and not think of what people will think.

"I might be going to Durban soon to also have an experience of Eyadini, the lounge that popularised her. We're still arranging the logistics," said Trino Bambino.

Zodwa on the other hand thanked Zimbabweans for warming up to her during her debut visit.

"Before I travelled to Zimbabwe, a lot of people had instilled fear in me saying people there would not tolerate me because of my dressing but to my surprise, when I got here, people showed me love and came in their numbers to party with me.

"Thank you to everyone who took time to party with me, I really appreciate it," said Zodwa Wabantu who is now planning to travel to Harare on another partying spree.