Bonang is one of South Africa’s most powerful, and pretty much the perfect package; her personality translating just as well from real life into pixels, as her talent does from onscreen to the airwaves.
Bonang - She Who Reigns Supreme
It’s difficult to say exactly why we follow Bonang Matheba, since – as a quick thumb through her Instagram feed will tell you - there is a whole lot to like. In fact, as far as social influencers go, Bonang is one of South Africa’s most powerful, and pretty much the perfect package; her personality translating just as well from real life into pixels, as her talent does from onscreen to the airwaves.
If her glamorous lifestyle won’t claim your double-tap, the presenter’s wardrobe certainly will, with Bonang’s sense of style feeling like the double entendre to her playful personality. Low cut? Quite likely. Thigh high? Thank heavens! Bold colour, mesh panels and body-boasting silhouettes? Boy, you had better be ready… But despite the growing fashion icon status secured with numerous magazine covers, an ‘SA Style Icon of the Year’ award, her own range of handbags and a Woolworths-stocked lingerie line, we are not to be distracted from Bonang’s success. There is the Glamour ‘Woman of the Year Award’, a Kids Choice Award, and a mention on a Forbes List to remind you of her purpose.
Such accolades make a solid foundation for her pedestal of 1.1million followers and counting – a following so well earned that we would have forgiven any slip of the ‘girl-next-door-dressed-as-a-diva’ persona, even for a second. But actually, as we caught up with Bonang to talk all things success and social media, we found her lounge-bound and giggly at the airport on the way to host the Uganda Entertainment Awards; the same breezy Bonang heard daily, 10am-12pm on Metro FM, surprisingly suffering with a little pre-event jitters. “I get nervous with everything; be it every morning when I do my radio show; be it when I prepare for a shoot; or I’m interviewing a celebrity, or I’m being interviewed.
I still get butterflies in my stomach, which is lovely because it keeps me on my toes - it means that I really, really want to do my best. [With] Uganda, it’s my very first time there [and] it’s an honour to finally break into other countries besides my own – that was always my dream.” If you are reading this, you have probably also seen how Bonang hit the event in a Gert-Johan Coetzee gown (killing the red carpet with the same “bang bang, boom boom, pop pop” she captioned the photos with online), and might be wondering exactly where those “butterflies” went. Ms Matheba’s nerves seemed the same as the abs she showed off: made of 100% steel.
For some stars, crafting the look of confidence takes careful curation and a dedicated salary’s worth of work - the snapping, photoshopping, perfect caption-writing job of an entire team even. But this ‘Digital Influencer of the Year’ award-winner does all the uploading herself. “I run all my social media pages. I have a content development team for my website, but for social media you have to be as authentic and as personal as possible when you interact with people because they can tell if something is staged or not. The more authentic the better, so I prefer to run my own social media, post what I need to post.
I have found that doing it myself means that I have full control over it and I’ve really kind of figured out like a strategy that works for me.” And she’s really not lying when she says it “works” – nor did she hesitate to praise social media’s role in her rise to fame, citing her relationship with brands like Ciroc, REVLON and Distractions down to her digital influence, and crediting social media for her reach across the continent. “You know what social media has done for me? It has really accelerated my growth in Africa; it’s given me the opportunity to reach audiences that I wouldn’t normally reach outside of my country; it’s introduced me to a new space [and] introduced me to a new market. It’s played a huge role in my career. I’m able to be on the cover of Glam Africa for instance because of social media. I’m slowly on a quest to conquer the African continent via fashion, and social media I think is the best way to do that.”
Followers will have n
Quick fire questions:
One fact most fans don’t know about you?
I’m asthmatic – I don’t know how many people know about that. I was diagnosed when I was five years old and I’ve been living with asthma all my life.
Favourite African city?
Cape Town, because it is beautiful, the culture there is incredible. It’s one of my favourite holiday destinations, because it’s very global, very European, but it’s quintessential South Africa – the markets there and so many things come together beautifully; our fashion, our music, our people. Cape Town really personifies how beautiful South Africa is and what a great nation I think we are.
Favourite far flung holiday destination?
I love Paris, I love London and I love Los Angeles. And I love Mauritius.
5 things always in your handbag?
My cell phone, my power bank to charge my cell phone, a pair of sunglasses, my asthma pump and my Revlon lipgloss.
Who’s your favourite designer at the moment?
Hazra and Guccia – I absolutely love him; I’ve worked with him numerous times over the years and he just gets better and better. Internationally it has to be Balmain; I have huge respect for Olivier.
Who do you stalk the most on Instagram?
I stalk a lot of the Kardashians – I love what they wear, I love their family and I just love their online presence on social media. I get a lot of style inspiration from them.
I stalk FashioBombDaily - their owner, Claire Sulmers, who I have great respect for, and I also stalk Chrissy Teigen who I find really, really, really funny.
In Real Life, who is your favourite person right now?
My mother.
By Cindy LGH
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