Pretoria – When 32-year-old Precious Selephi Ndlovu was invited into the studio on Monday at a shopping centre near her home, little did she know that she was soon to become the butt of the joke, with photos of her in lingerie widely circulated online.
Rewinding her roller-coaster week to IOL in Joburg, Ndlovu, who is nine months pregnant, said trust played a major role in her acceding to the persuasion to pop into the photo studio.
“There is this Kodak near my place, and sometimes I go there for shoots. Those people, I think I am close to them. There is a new photographer and she offered me a photo shoot. She said since I am about to pop the baby, I could just take two or three photos,” said Ndlovu.
“It was early in the morning and I was wearing my gown. The lady said she would take a few pictures of me, for free. and I agreed. Honestly, I was not prepared for that photo shoot. She sent the pictures to me via WhatsApp.”
Later on, the photographer allegedly shared Ndlovu’s photographs online, touting for business and that is how the mother of one’s private life was thrust into a whirlwind of mockery and jokes.
Repeatedly, social media users called her the “broke version of Rihanna”.
“I am not a fan of social media, but that day I started receiving a volume of calls. My Facebook account even got hacked and the person has been giving people a number to purportedly help her. When I finally gained control of my Facebook account, I found the endless message, with many people telling me to take down the photos,” Ndlovu narrated.
“The comments were nasty. Most people were saying go and remove that cheap lingerie from Mr Price and things like that.
Ndlovu said at the peak of the social media storm, the rogue photographer wrote her a message: “She said ‘you are now famous, please remember me’. She said I must give her something. I did not know how to respond to her. I did not have the strength. The whole episode embarrassed me deeply.
“I have a daughter who is in school who will be affected by this. I do know that some people have killed themselves after going through things like this. In my case, I had not done anything wrong to anyone. Even though my lingerie was cheap, it is what I afforded and bought for myself. Those photographs were meant for my eyes, with my boyfriend,” she said.
Soon, a section of well-to-do South Africans – musicians, artists, pastors and rich people joined the bandwagon, asking community members to locate Precious so that they could assist her.
There are 27 000 emoji reactions and 2 300 comments to a Facebook post were King Monada asks his legion of followers to help him find the woman. He also shared a photo of Precious.
“We are one of those who are willing to help her dream come true,” King Monada posted on his verified Facebook page with 2. 8 million followers.
Ndlovu said the majority of the public pledges of support and those asking people to locate her, are driven by ulterior motives.
“Most of it was just to gain and impress followers. Each day, I’m told that this influential person is looking for you. When I contact them, they just blue-tick and continue asking people to find me. I do not like bothering people with my life,” she said.
“From the hundreds of people ‘hunting’, it was only Ms Zuva Urban Tete on Facebook who located me through her vast networks, and with her good intentions. She then linked me up with Ms Sandra Juliet Yellow Bello who runs popular businesses Royal Preggy Mamas and Bello Fab Baby at Southgate Mall in Joburg with her husband. Those have been angels sent by God himself,” said Ndlovu.
“Sandra took me to the salon and got my hair done, I was taken to do my nails. I then received hampers of baby products. To top it all, I was taken for a proper photo shoot. I was pampered and when the photos went online, my colleagues joked that I even looked like Rihanna now. All that shame and embarrassment is gone.”
Social media influencer Zuva Urban Tete told IOL that when she was tasked by Bello to locate Ndlovu amid the social media mockery, the mission became personal for her.
“Random acts of kindness fill up the void inside me. For me, when we have nothing good to say to others, we should just be quiet. We should be kind to others. Everyone is going through something,” she said.
Speaking to IOL, Sandra said the principle behind her business empire is to help communities.
“We have just been in this business for a year, we are still new in the industry. What inspired me to open this shop is that my husband and I, when we would look for trendy baby stuff, we could not easily find it in this side of Joburg. We established Bello Fab Baby to help everyday people who live around us. We work with mums daily, and apart from buying clothes for their babies, they do photo shoots and that is how Royal Preggy Mamas came into being,” she said.
“We do maternity wear hire and the prestigious photo shoots. We also provide the accessories. We are in the business of making mums look fabulous, to preserve memories of their pregnancy journey. Every mum deserves a chance. So, helping Precious, and seeing he smile like that warmed my heart.
“What I did for Precious is something I needed to do from the bottom of my heart. I believe in love and helping those in need. It made me so happy to see her smile. I stand against cyber-bullying. As women, we have to be our sisters’ keepers. Ladies, can we fix each other’s crowns, please!?” Sandra said.
IOL