Zodwa Wabantu. Picture: Instagram
Racy dancer Zodwa Wabantu got tongues wagging once again after she shared a video clip of herself removing the body of a monkey from a dead snake’s belly.
She simply captioned the post: “I don’t buy, ngiyazingela (I hunt).”
In the video clip, the “Zodwa Wabantu Uncensored” star is seen cutting through the dead snake’s skin and carefully proceeding to remove the animal, which the snake swallowed earlier.
And the man in the background is heard saying: “It’s a monkey.”
WARNING: The video contains visuals that may upset sensitive viewers.
The video sparked a heated debate on social media with fans calling Wabantu out for encouraging “animal cruelty”.
Taking to her comments section, many expressed their shock at what they had just witnessed, while others strongly condemned the act of killing the snake, highlighting that pythons, in particular, are an endangered species.
An Instagram user who goes by the name of Veiko Pelao Petrus posed the question: “Why do you guys kill this snake 🐍???? They don’t hurt you plus they will go extinct and what happens to the future generations. #sustainability #extinction #snakes 😢😢😢this (is) cruelty.”
Another follower, Mosa Kitty Malumise, wrote: “What in the world did I just watch? 😳😳😳😳Are you going to braai it?, phela I hear snake meat tastes like biltong 💀”
Chengeto Jange added: “Pythons are protected species. We don’t kill them 😢😢😢. @sabcnewsonline, why are you killing a python sis Zo😢😢
Concerned Instagram user Dikotsi Sekatane asked: “But why kill innocent animals 😢 this is not right honestly 😡”
Instagram user, bujigirlbee, added: “Some things should just stay in your photo gallery 😒 we honestly didn’t ask to see this 😩 I love you but this is too much now feels like you’re doing this just for clout! I couldn’t even watch the whole thing.”
Wabantu has received a lot of flak since she came out as a traditional healer last year, with many questioning the legitimacy of her gift.
Poet and musician Ntsiki Mazwai was among many who criticised her for continuing to dance half-naked after she had accepted her gift of traditional healing.
“One can’t be a professional stripper and a sangoma… There two azihlangani.....Stop undermining and disrespecting African spirituality,” tweeted Mazwai.
One can't be a professional stripper and a sangoma.... There two azihlangani.....
— NtsikiMazwaiMedia (@ntsikimazwai) May 2, 2022
Stop undermining and disrespecting African spirituality.
In a previous interview with IOL Entertainment, the Soweto-born star confirmed that she had embarked on a special spiritual journey but she was not a sangoma nor was she set to become one.
“I have recently accepted a calling but this is a different kind of ubizo (calling). I’m not a sangoma. I am Inkosazana ya Manzi,” revealed the star.
Wabantu’s mentor and spiritual leader, Dr Mhlaba of Kwa-Mhlaba Traditional Healers, shed light on what it means to be an Inkosazana ya Manzi.
“There is this thing with us traditional healers, the people that God has given certain gifts … that we want to initiate everybody and make them sangomas even when they have different gifts,” said Mhlaba.
He revealed that Wabantu was born with this gift of success.
“This gift is Mndawu, it’s what you come to earth with from birth. People with this gift or blessing have doors just opening up for them.”
“Even when people try to bewitch them, nothing happens to them. They are just protected by their good guardian angel.
He added: “So with that blessing, you go somewhere and accept it. It’s a clean, white spirit. It’s a spirit from God and it stays in the water when that ancestor dies and looks after you.
“Zodwa had to go to the water to acknowledge the spirit and be cleansed so that it can live peacefully in her,” explained Mhlaba.
From her wild, sultry dance moves, to touching her private parts and sniffing her fingers in public to letting fans grope her on stage, nothing will ever come as a shock to Mzansi where Zodwa Wabantu is concerned.