2017 : When Tererai Mugwadi struck the news pages once again this past fortnight, it was, as has become the norm, not to do with her performance on the stage.

Well, not on the stage of making music and musical performances.

It was sadly about another performance that turned out to be not so convincing but terribly damning.

She and her ‘play buddy’ Ashley ‘tha Zhettstar’ Ngondo, had shot a pornographic home video on one of their phones which had leaked on the Webosphere and gone viral. Hopefully the only thing about that video that is viral!

It sent a very bad message to the probably handful of fans she has left amongst the younger brigade of music lovers. The rest, like the congregants of Robert Martin Gumbura’s End Time Message church, have left the building.

She has little to no fans anymore!

That too is sad because Tererai is one of the best voices ever to emerge from the urban grooves era and would have been competing with the likes of Ammara Brown for the title of Queen of the airwaves.

But recorded sex is the only message that the few fans she had left have gotten from her. And recorded sex is the only lesson her handful of fans have as her most recent release!

Instead she was being judged on the internet for whether she deserves the crown of ‘best porn video’ most notably against Pokello Nare and even in that less than glamorous race she was found terribly wanting.

Pokello and Stunner would take the Oscar any day and in a two horse race, Tererai’s clip will come in a distant position 100. It is performances such as hers alongside Zhettstar that make you want to cut Nama some slack. It is possible to have nominees and not come out with a winner and Tererai’s sex tape is one such nominee.

In all honesty, judging people for producing sex tapes is probably a 2010 thing to do. With the advent of social media gadgets like the smart phone, we all have played producers in the comfort of our own homes to productions from comedic skits and family friendly media while the very brave amongst us have gone the Tererai way and shot X-rated content.

What two consenting adults do in the privacy of their own bedrooms is none of our business and once government starts legislating in the bedrooms then we have a problem.

But should the consequences of such productions be leaking to jurisdictions outside of the bedroom. Should they knock on our doors; then those who produce such content should be able to swallow it-no pun ever intended!

And therefore, rightfully so, Tererai is being judged. To her defence, she wasn’t supposed to give an award winning performance. After all it was for their own eyes only. But now that it’s out, the court of public scrutiny will trash her and trash her they have.

While it is two people in the video, Tererai seems to have attracted the most attention. Some will argue that it is sexism at play. That cannot be totally ignored. But some will argue that it is because she is Tererai. A star, however much she has started to dim.

Zhettstar, in spite of his name that suggests he is a star, is not a star to the Zimbabwean people. Tererai is a star and Zhettstar is a piece of cold coal. Tererai is Michael Jackson and Zhettstar is Tito Jackson. So attention goes to Tererai.

The true gist of the story that was missed however is the real issue at stake. Tererai needs help.

From fighting the media when she alleged she had been slandered an awarded a hefty pay-out, that is in fact the time that the system failed her.

Tererai does not need hefty pay-outs from lawsuits. She needs help to recover from evil addiction which her partner Zhettstar openly admitted in a story written about her. Dragging newspapers to courts is not the answer, the answer is to drag her to where she will get loving help and care instead.

Instead of rushing to the courts she should be rushing to rehab. To family and friends who should be standing by her and helping her recover and exorcise the drug demon whther entry level soft drugs or whatsoever. What she faces now could cost her her life.

It is not farfetched to think of names like Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse and even local names like Dambudzo Marechera; unguided super talent lost before their time because they lacked the one thing that mattered the most-guidance.

True, with poor acting skills as shown in the video many will be distracted, but here is a soul that should not be forgotten or lost.

There are words and phrases that say someone needs help.

For example S.O.S, Pan-Pan and Mayday.

Now there is a new word that says someone desperately needs help- TERERAI!

Story written by the Herald

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