Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Paul Munyuki
2 February 2008
Harare — Yvonne Mangunda is considered to be among the more beautiful actresses appearing on local television in Zimbabwe at present. Her appearance on the ZTV soap, Studio 263, attracted a good number of male viewers who would not have been interested in the once popular programme, which has been off air for a while now.
She is also intelligent and this probably explains why she won the sole ticket to represent Zimbabwe in the television reality show, Imagine Africa. Mangunda's group (Tumaini Africa), which was based in Mozambique, went on to win the contest and she pocketed US$6 000 among other prizes.
The reality TV show, organised by the African Broadcast Media Partnership against HIV and Aids that was screened on ZTV, ended in December after running for 13 weeks. Her success in the reality show also looks set to land her more lucrative opportunities and chances are she will be working outside Zimbabwe soon, if not already. However, it has since emerged that Mangunda deliberately misled the continent, and probably the world by claiming to be what she is not. Mangunda's profile for the Imagine Africa show suggested that she was a member of the national women's cricket team -- she actually claimed to be the Zimbabwe wicket keeper.
Also, during her campaign for the Imagine Africa show, Mangunda would appear on a television commercial saying something like, ". . . I am a wicket-keeper with the women's cricket national team . . ."
Sadly, Mangunda has NEVER been part of the women's national team --Nonhlanhla "Nono" Nyathi is actually the national team wicket-keeper. The closest Mangunda got to the national team was to participate in an inter-provincial tournament where she featured for Midlands last year -- the event was used to select players for the national team.
In soccer, she would be the equivalent of Enasio Perezo, Danger Fourpence, Baloni Chiseko, Farai Mujokoro or even Have-A-Look Dube. National (women) cricket team manager Chiedza Mafunga confirmed this week that Mangunda has not yet featured for Zimbabwe in any role on and off the field. "Yeah, she never played for the national team because she did not travel with the team to Kenya in 2006. "She was part of the provisional squad that came for trials in April (last year) and when we trimmed the squad (to take part in the World Cup qualifiers in South Africa this month), she did not make it," said Mafunga.
Or maybe Mangunda was quoted out of context while saying that she dreams of being a national team wicket keeper for she had an almost similar case last year according to reports.
Mangunda appeared on ZTV's Youth.com programme to express her disappointment over one of the sound bites promoting the Imagine Africa show. She was quoted as saying: "I don't want to be the typical girl who loses her parents at a young age, or . . . who was born in a . . . location" The statement came out in bad taste as it suggested that she was taking a dig at people who live in high-density suburbs. Mangunda, however, emphasized that the bite was taken out of context and it was unfortunate viewers had not been shown the whole interview.
"I was asked what motivates me and I said I was born in the ghetto and I get my motivation from the ghetto. "It was like, I want to be an example and I was stating that people have a negative attitude of (sic) the ghetto. I come from Highfield and I am proud (of the fact)," Mangunda was quoted on one of the websites. "For me it is about standing here and representing people. Imagine Africa has changed my character. I have learnt to listen to other people. Before, I was a me me me (sic) but now I don't have to do things by myself. I learnt from other characters and the experience made me very appreciative of Zimbabwe," she added.
It is interesting to note that former Youth.com and Sisonke Mix presenter, Arthur "Mr Rimz" Marime disappeared from ZTV last year after being accused of misleading the nation (through the press) that he was part of the Imagine Africa organisers. Mangunda could not be reached for comment as she was said to be out of the country.
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