adminLIVING fake lifestyles is costly.
People caught in this web are mostly celebrities and socialites desperate for attention.
The desire to please people on social media has been driving many into faking their lifestyles.
Maintaining a high class lifestyle is not easy since it comes with a lot of pressure and costs.
This has left many people swimming in debt as well as nursing depression triggered by the pressure of failing to maintain a certain status.
Socialites end up competing against each other, which further fuels more pressure in their lives.
Comedienne Felistas “Mai TT” Murata is the latest casualty of this cancer.
She has been portraying herself as a rich woman on social media, who has the means to live the jet-setting lifestyle she craves for, and wants us to believe she lives, yet she is just another poor con artist.
The comedian’s conviction of theft of trust property, involving US$10 000 on Tuesday, was inevitable and a lesson to would-be offenders.
An attention-seeking socialite, Mai TT betrayed her big constituency of believers after it emerged that she is just another ordinary crook.
She was desperate to maintain a high status using stolen property.
While Mai TT deserves another chance to reform and lead a clean life, after rehabilitation, we should not forget that there are many, just like her, who are languishing in prison.
Some did far less than her and were sent to jail.
There is a big lesson here – justice is for everyone and will not spare you simply because you have one million followers on Facebook or Twitter.
It will not spare you simply because you have the largest constituency, when it comes to Facebook mutual friends, or you are one of the best comediennes in the country.
Harare magistrate Munashe Chibanda described Mai TT’s case as a classic example of theft of trust property.
That’s quite damning.
The motor mouth comedienne misrepresented to the victim that she had a Mercedes Benz to give as surety and took a US$10 000 loan.
She later shifted goal posts and handed over an Audi as security, then withdrew it and provided an invalid passport as collateral.
The other big lesson we can get from this case is that we should try, by all means possible, to live within our means.
In Mai TT’s case, it’s clear she wanted to use the money to portray a fake lifestyle she is known to live on the social media streets.
There are several other socialites who have been humiliated in public after failing to settle their debts.
Some are now suffering from stress-induced illnesses as a result of failing to maintain the high standards of life they portray in public.
In extreme cases, we have had cases of people committing suicide after failing to maintain these high standards of life.
Leading fake lifestyles comes with a cost and Mai TT’s case sums it all up.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter