SOUTH African entertainer Rebeca Libram, otherwise known as Zodwa Wabantu, who was sent back to South Africa upon arrival in Zambia on Friday says immigration officials asked her whether or not she was putting on underwear.
Zodwa, famous for her seductive dances performed in revealing clothing without underwear, said the Immigration officials gave her an option of saying she was wearing a pant and stay in the country until Sunday.
She arrived on Friday night aboard a South African Airways flight but was detained and deported the next morning without giving any reason.
The National Arts Council had allowed her in the country but barred her from performing saying doing so would be against public interest and national values.
Her promoter appealed the decision to the Ministry of Tourism, but it was rejected.
Zodwa, however, said she had pocketed R40, 000 for the event that never happened.
“My flight to Lusaka was about 20 past one but then I changed it because I knew everyone was going to be waiting for me, the media and the papers that side. I changed the flight time to the evening but I didn’t tell anyone. I paid an extra R2,500 for the flight they booked for me,” Zodwa said in an interview with a South African radio station.
“When I arrived, they said I should sit and let everyone get off the flight, that it was a special treatment only to find that I was taken out to a hotel and that I was not going to be allowed to perform as in today (Saturday). Everything was well but on the six ‘O’ clock flight I was on my way to South Africa.”
She explained that the immigration authorities at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport quizzed her if she was wearing her undies but upon saying no, an instruction was issued that she is denied entry.
Zodwa wondered how not wearing an underwear was such a big fuss as it was her choice to wear or not to.
“Social media is interested in Zodwa, I think they want me to say I wear a pant, guys I don’t wear a pant…in some countries, they are saying ‘Zodwa, are you wearing a pant?’ Just like they did yesterday. They said to me that Zodwa if you are wearing a pant, you are going to stay and not going to leave until Sunday,” she said. “But what kind of a question is that? It’s my choice not to wear a pant or make up. Why would anyone stop me from wearing make up, Peruvian or Brazilian hair? It’s a choice, I am a woman. I said to them that I am not wearing a pant then they called…Minister of immigration in Zambia and when they told her, she said no. What is it with a pant? I must leave it and say oh guys I am wearing so let me in or if I am not wearing, it I should also say…I don’t really understand…”
She said she was sad for her Zambian fans who were denied the chance of seeing her but maintained that she will never wear pants.
“I am really sad about my people, you know, but I got my R40, 000, no refund and no complaint but I am worried about my people in Zambia, you know. Zambia is a country with the its own laws but people are people like us, we are one, all Africans. I asked them, told the lady there, the chief executive on the border, I asked her that please call your madam because they were calling the Minister as Madam; I asked her that if I decide to retire in 2019 and say that now I am Zodwa, no more a celebrity, are you going to allow me to enter Zambia and I am wearing a pant? But she said no comment. I wanted to get more answers as to what was the problem.”
She said she would not be compelled to lie that she was wearing a pant just to get money, as not wearing one was her choice.
“It’s my choice, I don’t wear a pant. There are so many women who don’t wear panties and I am not wearing a pant. They want me to lie that I will wear just because I love money? No, I don’t wear panties,” said Zodwa.
Read this article from the original source: Immigration Officials Asked Me If I Was Wearing a Pant and I Said NO, Says Zodwa.