She believes she was born for the limelight and destiny led her to win R2 million on Big Brother Mzansi season three.
Her spirituality played a big role in her winning. Being a sangoma, many believed she walked into the Big Brother house with muthi and all sorts of sangoma tricks to help her win, but Michelle ‘Mphowabadimo’ Mvundla (27) tells Drum that prayer and votes kept her in the game every week.
She beat out Tulani ‘Tulz’ Madala, Libo Njomba, and Themba Mabaso and walked away with the biggest-ever prize money in Big Brother Mzansi history.
Coming into the house, she did not want people to know she was a sangoma to avoid being boxed.
“I came to the house wanting to live my dream. I grew up watching the show and I saw myself in it and I wanted to represent what I stand for, spirituality and ubungoma. But I didn’t want to portray the stereotypes. It meant I had to be myself. The purpose was fulfilled.”
She experienced a lot of judgment, there was gossip, tears, and fights and Mpho says she was open to it.
“Prayer and being in the diary room was my only solace in the house. I prayed. I would get paranoid and stressed like all the other housemates, but I kept my faith and remembered why I came there, where I come from, my family, my goals and dreams. From day one until the last day, I never won anything in the house, I was always standing up for eviction and I finally made it to the end, was because of prayer,” she says.
Mpho believes she is a born and gifted sangoma.
“I was aware of my calling when I was 16 years old. My family were staunch Christians, and they begged their ancestors for me to finish school. I forgot about my calling until I got to university and lost my eyesight for over a month in 2016. I started not seeing things clearly, until I lost eyesight,” she says.
Now she's embraced her calling.
“I am a sangoma but I take care of myself and I love looking sexy, dressing up, kea phapha and I love going out and that is who I am. My appearance has nothing to do with my gift,” she says.
“There are certain things I do that are religiously related to my spirituality that I couldn’t do but ended up doing like taking my snuff (ground tobacco) and ukuphalaza (vomiting to rid yourself of toxins and excessive bile). And there are a lot of things that are sacred to me that I didn’t display in the house. I didn’t want to show people everything but to break the stereotypes around a sangoma,” she says.
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Winning the money, Mpho is ready to start making her dreams come to life.
“I am excited and nervous. Being in the house was a lot. I am still trying to process the good news. We were in a confined space for so long. You tend to forget the smallest things even your cellphone number, address, or faces of your family. ”
She never expected to win, and the strategy was to be herself.
Mpho didn’t campaign during her whole stay in the house.
“I had Simphiwe Khumalo who I became friends with and he handled my social media. I live with my mom, brother, my son and they are clueless about anything related to social media. I thought social media campaigns, and people printing t-shirts in support of me were unreal, it happened in other countries. When I saw the effort that my family put into the printing of the t-shirts, it really encouraged me to try and stay in the game,” she says.
Her number one priority is to take care of her family.
“I am a single mother. My brother and mom are both diabetics. My mom was retrenched from work and taking care of my family while fulfilling my goals is at the top of my list. I made plans before coming here. I need to go back and reflect. The show has changed my perspective on life. I was the sole provider at home. Anything is for my family and I need to secure a future for my son,” she says.
“I have a vision board which I need to revisit.”
But Mpho is ready for any tv presenting job.
“I want a talk show, a reality show something informative and fulfilling. I want to share my story. I want to get into acting. I have always loved presenting since I was a child and finally doors have opened up for me,” she says.
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In the show, Mpho opened up about having an abortion and her battles with mental health. Some used her struggles to play the game.
“I did that intentionally. I wanted to share myself. I never planned that it happens in the house. I came not even wanting to disclose that I am a sangoma and who I am. I didn’t want to speak about it. The first week’s task was what twisted things around, we all opened up, and in the sixth week [as well].”
She learned to be vocal about her emotions and not run away from her feelings.
“The healer needs healing as well. The house helped me to heal. I am glad it happened in such a platform for people to relate more,” she says
“It felt like a safe space, and I opened up. I realized that maybe I am not moving forward in life because I am not shedding these things. To me, it doesn’t mean that because I am a healer, I am perfect. I make mistakes and go through life like everyone else. I cried a lot.”
She says being a sangoma means carrying people's burdens and you struggle to debrief and exhale.
“I learned to feel. I had built walls, bottled my feelings, and went around my emotions but I learned to tackle them head-on. I wanted people to learn that there’s more to life than just what you see.”
She is aware that not everyone will be happy for her.
“It is still early days, there is still some sweet and sour. The R2 million is no longer dangling. But I didn’t expect to win. The competition was tough with heavyweights in the house. Eventually my strategy with the eight and then five of us, I learned that I need to remain true to myself,’ she says.
“There was a time when I lost myself. In the sixth week, I became very depressed. I was going through a lot of emotions. I was stressed, in a dark place and the people around me contributed, the game, the house, not seeing family, competition, all contributed to it. But I remained strong and prayed.”
In the first weeks, she distanced herself from the housemates but had to open up and go through the emotions.
“I am at a much better place in my life, emotionally and mentally.”
She made friends in the house that she will cherish, but Mpho is not looking for a relationship with anyone in the house.
“That is all in the past. I want whatever relationship that I create with them outside to be genuine.”
She understands that not everyone is happy for her, and she is open to criticism.
“Some of the housemates are still slightly sour and tense. But we will adjust. It was anyone’s game to win,” she says.
“I didn’t get along with Tulz at first. It was a clash of the titans every time. We didn’t get along, until the last week and we gravitated towards each other. I realised that it’s not that we were clashing, we just didn’t have enough time to get along with each other,” she says.
“The house forces you to have conversations because there were no phones. But in the end, we are genuinely good with each other.”
Mpho says everyone eventually became her friend.
“I became close with Mvelo, Dinky, Nthabii, Terry, Themba, and Sis Tamara. They are people I will always route for. They have been consistent with me from the beginning. I saw their behaviour was consistent with me,” she says.
