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Fanuel kangondo Deputy Lifestyle Editor
She is an imposingly fashionable and elegant model, ready to take on any assignment, but hey, wait a minute. She doesn’t do that anymore as she is now a sangoma and now serves a higher mortal being.
While it may sound strange considering that she was once crowned Miss Zimbabwe in 1996, Nomusa Ndiweni (37) says she has no regrets swopping the catwalk to answer her spiritual calling that supersedes everything in her life.
Now a mother of seven-month old twins, the former beauty queen is not an easy subject to corner for an interview especially when you take into account her spiritual being that has totally transformed her perspective of what life is all about.
Her unmistakable wit always makes any conversation enjoyable but one has to be on guard when conversing with her, as there are definitely other players in the conversation.
“Feel free to ask me any questions you may have, ‘they’ are aware of what we are doing,” she informs me at the beginning of our conversation.
Her name, please note, is Nomusa (not Nomsa) meaning mother of mercy and originates from Zululand.
In all the things that Nomusa gets to do, she says she has to first ask “them” (the spirits) and this interview only materialised after almost two months as due processes and other commitments got into the way.
Clad in skinny blue jeans and a black top with a brown shawl on high heels, height of 180cm, a bust of 32C, 60cm waist and hips at 88cm, Nomusa still has the features of a super model. The distinct traditional beads around her neck and natural dreadlocks are in harmony with her new found status.
From her days in high school, Nomusa had an interest in theatre which then led her into fashion. She has a typical super model frame that must have easily facilitated her entry into the Miss Zimbabwe contest which she won in 1996 and opened doors for her globally and slung her into the fashion capitals of the world.
She attended an elite school in Bulawayo and her education saw her through to the University of London where she branched into the film industry.
It was during one of these sojourns in London that she received her spiritual calling through a series of dreams and visions.
What happened next was the turning point in her life as she ignored appointments and left the glitz and glamour of the catwalk seeking to fulfil the duties of the spiritual world.
Nomusa describes her transformation as “the best thing that has ever happened to me”. Some of her friends and family had difficulty in accepting the new Nomusa and she says her true friends became apparent and while some family members accepted her some did not.
“It’s not something that you look for, life takes precedence over everything else and I now help people with spiritual realignment on many aspects. People need to sort out their gifts given by the creator,” she said.
Nomusa, who is licensed and registered with the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers’ Association, maintains that her work does not have commercial value and finds it very difficult to charge people for services but her clients are free to express their appreciation in a way that they see fit.
“It’s not one of those you die rich kind of things; in fact if you succeed in helping someone, their success is also your success,” she said before stopping the conversation to take some snuff. Not bute, but mudhombo. For none-connoisseurs of snuff, the later is stuff that you put under the tongue while the former gets into the bloodstream via the nostrils.
During and after her modelling days, marriage was never a priority in Nomusa’s life and on her recently conceived twins, all she could say was “it’s complicated” and was not comfortable talking about it. She is, however, “very happy” raising the boy and the girl at their family home in Bulawayo.
Asked whether she misses modelling, Nomusa said that her hands are full at the moment as she is involved in, in addition to the spiritual work, film and theatre projects in Bulawayo with her brother who is her business partner. It has always been her ambition to build the biggest production house in Africa domiciled in Bulawayo and it is all work in progress. Nomusa is also heavily involved in organising the Bulawayo Fashion Week scheduled for later this year.
Motherhood has also stepped in and it is her wish to raise her children well given her circumstances.
“I am a very private person and this is by choice and I prefer it that way. I am also working on a film called Matopos that I wrote before I became what I am today,” she said.
On the status of local beauty pageants, Nomusa said that they had potential if they were run as a business and they would be easier to sustain.
“There should be a commercial aspect to it all; it should not just be about the title and the charity work. It should be a platform to achieve other things in life but sadly some of the girls are becoming vulnerable to certain elements associated with the pageant.
“You should make use of those contacts depending on what your strategy is. This is a worldwide problem that is not unique to Zimbabwe alone, and this could be handled better with a common purpose.”
The spirit medium-turned-beauty-queen does not go to church because “I see too much” and this would make some people uncomfortable.
“The problem with institutionalised religion these days is that it is now about people and not God. I believe in God alright and I would like to keep it that way,” she said.
Nomusa was born in a large family of 10 and her mother passed on leaving the kids with their father, a parent whom she described as very supportive.
Online Reporter