Online Reporter
Chifemale Boss, a popular influencer who boasts 167 000 followers, has her own stylish lifestyle and ability to engage diverse audiences through her visually appealing posts.
In the ever-evolving world of relationships and marriage, she has gained popularity for shaping conversations about love, sex, commitment and partnerships in the digital space.
In this report, Sifelani Tsiko (ST), Innovations Editor speaks to Chifemale Boss (CB) about her life and how her posts have significantly impacted various aspects of daily life for her followers.
ST: Most people don’t know your history Chifemale Boss. They only know you as a socialite.
Tell us about yourself and your background?
CB: My real name is Fortunate Maibvise and my friends call me ‘‘Fofo.’’ I am a 39-year-old single mom and I come from Birchenough Bridge in Chipinge District. I am a “muyera Moyo” of the Chirandu cheGono clan. I grew up in Msasa in Harare where my father worked for 47 years at Zimphos (fertiliser and chemical manufacturing plant).
ST: Where are you based now and what do you do to earn a living outside your social media activity?
CB: I am now based in Dubai in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) where I’m working as a nanny and maid. Madhumbe! (laughs)
ST: On which social media platforms are you very active? What is your following like?
CB: I am mostly active on my Facebook platform and I have 165 000 followers as we speak.
ST: What motivated you to break into the social media actor?
CB: What motivated me to be active on social media was the loneliness and social isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic. Lockdowns, social-distancing measures and the pervasive fear of contagion drastically altered how people interacted.
During this time, I realised that social media ‘‘inobhadhara’’ (pays) and I took advantage of free wifi at work to create my own FB page. I started doing my own posts learning from other Zimbo and South African socialites. I heard a lot from SA socialites that it pays to be a social media influencer.
It all started like a joke during the Covid–19 pandemic. My popularity on FB soared and I was motivated to do more. I have a huge following now and I enjoy engaging with my audience.
ST: What is your main focus area for your posts? What do your followers like most about your posts?
CB: My posts mainly focused on sex, marriage, relationships and all kinds of things that happen in our daily lives. My followers like posts that talk about sex, cheating, infidelity, marriage and ‘‘sex-starvation’’ by both men and women. It can be anything in open discussion around these topics and what is leading to the collapse of marriages and love affairs. Sex creates a bond between lovers and denial of sex has complicated relations, leading to cheating or infidelity. Lack of sex and intimacy is causing a lot of divorces. ‘Dzimba zhinji dzirikuputsika nenyaya idzodzi dzekunyimana bonde.’ My audience enjoys issues around ‘nyaya dzekunyimana bonde (Denial of conjugal rights or sex).
ST: How do you balance your work and your social media presence? Any conflict of interest with your employers?
CB: I do my Facebook posts outside of work. I don’t have much time for lots of posts but I have a passion for this. So whatever little free time I get, I do the posts, creating a healthy boundary between work and my personal life. It’s not easy if you are a ‘madhumbe’ because I don’t have enough time to do much. So whatever little free time I have, I do the posts. I wish I could do live streams but my job is tight. My room is inside the house of my employer, so I can’t do much. When I finish work I will be tired and I need some rest or time to talk to my family back home. I hardly have much time. It’s a passion.
ST: Are you earning something from your social media activities? Is this rewarding for you?
CB: Yes, Facebook is paying me something. I am earning something from my content and I want to thank my followers and viewers for their massive support. Without their support and love, I wouldn’t do much. Pasina ivo, ndega handisi chinhu. I am not getting much, but I am grateful for the little income I am getting. Some are failing to earn anything and I consider myself lucky for the small rewards I am getting.
ST: What really keeps you active on Facebook? You never seem to run out of topics for discussion. Just how do you get fresh ideas to keep your audience engaged?
CB: I will never run out of content. (Laughs) I don’t have more time to do the posts and engage my audience. I talk about what is burning inside marriages, love affairs and daily life. The kind of feedback I get is crazy and a lot of my followers often come to my inbox to share what they are going through in their marriages, love affairs and life. So each time I drop a new post, a lot of people come to my inbox and say Tete this is true and I am facing this in my marriage or love affair.
They want advice and so I give them. Some of my followers give me stories to share on my posts. So generate content in many ways. In some cases, I share what I once experienced in my life. I was once married so I really know what destroys or builds marriages or relations.
At times, I get a backlash and some people say we don’t want advice from a single mother. I know what happens inside marriages even if I am not married. I know the importance of a good marriage. I know what builds good marriages, I know what destroys marriages and this is why I talk a lot about these issues. I was once married and I know what happens.
ST: Chifemale Boss, you are known for dwelling on sex and relationship issues. Is there any secret to a good marriage or relationship?
CB: Secret to a relationship, one, you must love someone who also loves you. You must love someone of your own choice. You must love someone you have feelings for and someone you have a deep desire for intimacy with, whether or not they have money. That person must be more like a friend that you can freely express or share your inner feelings with. You should put each other first in whatever you do.
A woman should say my husband comes first and vice-versa. Love is for two and with God’s blessings being the third. Most people are destroying their marriages by saying ‘I put my happiness first or my kids first.’ Before children came, it started with your husband and to lie that you are in a marriage for children only is wrong. In a marriage, sex should be at the centre.
Sex is food for marriage. Sex shows the love, bond and connection in a marriage. We should not use sex as a weapon. We should not deny our husbands or wives sex. You must have sex with your husband unless you are having periods or you are ill. Couples that have sex are happy, I know this because I was once married. Denying your partner sex causes tension in marriages. I want couples to be happy and to always enjoy sex. l don’t wish for marriages to collapse just because I am not married myself.
ST: Are you in a relationship? Any kids?
CB: Yes, I am in a relationship with my long-time boyfriend and we are happy! Knowing what your partner wants is important.
Once you know what your man wants, you are good to go. Remember, we learn from our mistakes and I have learnt to be good to my man. Saka ndashasha pakubata murume. I tried for real (laughs). I have kids, yes, from my previous marriage. I have two kids, a boy and a girl but evil spirits and my childishness destroyed my first marriage. Some evil forces do not want good marriages to thrive. I am saying this from my personal experience.
ST: You are so proud of your Ndau culture. What can you say about this?
CB: Yes, I am proudly Ndau and I love my Ndau culture. It is rich with cultural values of Hunhu. I am not saying other cultures are bad, but I am talking about the beauty of cultural diversity in Zimbabwe. In our Ndau culture, I was taught of good cultural values which I openly share with my followers. You are taught about good values at each and every stage of your life.
We are taught to respect vasharukwa the elderly, when you are a young girl you are taught about your social and household role, you are taught to till the land, how to take care of yourself and prepare for your future marriage. I respect our traditional values even though I also believe in God. In our culture, we respect men — your brother — young or old, uncle and our grannies.
You must respect your husband. In our culture, our aunties are very open and they have role to play in our lives. They teach us everything from good morals, cultural values and up to what a woman needs to know to please her husband. ‘‘Pakuraira paye vanotaura zvese zvine hunhu zvinofanirwa kuitwa or kubata murume or kudhonzawo tunzeve twekuzasi uchiudzwa kuti baba vanovaraidzawo natwo.
ST: Looking ahead, what do you intend to do to grow your audiences and to build a powerful social media presence?
CB: I want to build a powerful social media presence. If I get enough time, I want to be a social media influencer full time. I need quality video cameras and other equipment to improve my content and do live streaming. I need to do live one-on-one interviews and generate content that can help my audience with good advice. One day, I want to be a life coach, a marriage coach and counsellor. I have the gift and I believe strongly that I can. I have helped a lot of people whose marriages had collapsed. I have the talent to engage with people and I want to utilise this gift in future.
ST: How do you feel about your online work? What do your parents and relatives say? Your hubby?
CB: I feel good about my online work because I am doing something which I am passionate about. My parents are no more and my relatives do support me. My audience is very supportive and I am truly grateful for their unwavering support.
My boyfriend doesn’t like it. He detests my social media presence. I blocked him and so he gets to know about it via his friends. His friends tell him that I am trending on social media. So, yaa, I think for now this is it.
