I am not a fan of setjoetla or those who perform such acts but bans on persons, individual or collective, should be done on a flimsy claim to threats to national security. Kannete mona ho batloa nale moferong. How does Lesotho declare Zodwa Persona Non Grata arbitrarily on hearsay? She hasn’t said anything against Lesotho that would be seen as a threat to our national security.
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If it is alleged that she does acts of social indecency, why doesn’t Government prescribe a dress code to her so that it limits her to just dancing and miming? We are now in the Month of the African Woman, hona le ba bangata ba tlo tsamaea mona ba tenne lithethane which reveal way too much, something that just falls short of what Zodwa does indoors and not outdoors but bona they walk around semi-nude .
The regalia, lithethane, while deemed to be traditional, and based on the premise that Lesotho is a Christian nation as it appears in the instrument issued by the Honorable Minister of Home Affairs and not church affairs, is not welcomed in Christian churches as it does not fully conform with or to the prescribed Church dress code.
Besides, those who will don the traditional regalia and prance in public do provoke sexual innuendos unintentionally or deliberately to many a male observer. The whistles and non verbatim responses that arise from the sight of a Mosotho woman clad in the traditional regalia is a disruption and distraction to many a mam so it has the same effect as that of Zodwa.
The difference here is that men will express their will to go and watch Zodwa in her act by paying to see her while the donning of traditional regalia is imposed unto the men on the basis that it might arouse improper thoughts.
I guess Lesotho should effect a blanket ban on nude and semi-nude performances as well as banning certain television channels. Has anyone watched Shaka Ilembe? The nudity on that series is the one that has many a normal man to be glued to their screens on Sunday evenings.
The immorality depicted on some soapies go against the same soft Christian morality as stated in the letter. In one popular soapie there is a Doctor who jumps from one man’s bed to another, does this teach our youths who want to be doctors that doctors are characterised by bed-hopping? Why aren’t they banned by decree of government too?
Is it because the name Zodwa is proving to be a brand to the extent that it has attracted a government response? Well by banning Zodwa, our government is simply promoting her. She is now so popular in Lesotho that she doesn’t need to perform her usual dance manoeuvres.
What if Zodwa is invited by a Mosotho entrepreneur to promote the African Woman Month to wear the Lesotho traditional gear just as Connie Ferguson had attended a popular dinner in Maseru? Yes I mean just to wear the same traditional regalia as Basotho women wear it locally during this month. I am sure some tourist operator can organise something of this nature and state in bold that she won’t dance to amapiano but traditional koriana music.
In fact, how about the Hon. Minister of Gender, Arts and Culture and that of Social Development organising a luncheon to celebrate this month, invite our local Omali, Omali features Zodwa (instruct her to wear a black or brown full nickers) together with his dancers to also be his back-up dancer wearing the same traditional regalia as won by our own Sotho Kids…..then sing …ke rata ha a shebile koana, ngoanenoa o pakile ‘seka re ba falla ako tjeke Zodwa….let us see the effect of that…the body, the name Zodwa and all will do it more than any speech during the same luncheon. We all know it.
Will the Christian clerics refuse to endorse our celebration of the African woman, really….I doubt it…..ke ba ba kae ba shebellang the reed dances ea KZN and eSwatini…Hypocrisy must fall ke sa pheta….
I reiterate my stand, I for one won’t pay to watch nor even go to see Zodwa perform setjoetla, but to ban her even before she performs setloetja is wrong. There is an abundance of setjoetla already in Lesotho either in the physical or as content on TV or social media.
Why isn’t there a blanket ban including shutting down YouTube because Zodwa’s content is readily abundant on social media…why don’t you ban Thope tse Khang songs because they are sexually suggestive?
Is Lesotho as a Christian state teaching us to discriminate? We have rights and must be allowed to choose to exercise them how we want. Don’t ban Zodwa, but yes ban her public indecency. The letter would make sense if it said Lesotho doesn’t have a problem with Zodwa as a person coming to visit Lesotho for we need tourists and anything that can boost our tourism but will not allow her to transgress local law pertaining to public indecency as enacted.
How many people who perform such acts but are unknown to the Minister and the clerics have been allowed to enter the country, some to sell sex? Does this mean the sale of sex is legal in Lesotho? Why doesn’t the Minister serve letters on those who sell sex publicly? What about the salient sale of sex in exchange for material possessions or alcohol?
Ke cho tjena.
Mokhosi Mohapi
