I, like many South Africans, have been fascinated by the meteoric rise of Maya Christinah Xichavo Wegerif, popularly known as Sho Madjozi.
This young lady who is proud of her African roots, and especially her Tsonga culture that is fused into her colorful fashion sense, was born in Shelley Village, Elim, in Limpopo.
Until now, I knew very little about Madjozi’s background, limited to the 2 South African Music Awards and 1 BET award that she received earlier this year..
I have now learnt that she has travelled the continent and the world, and achieved a lot more for her young age of 27.
But the release of her latest song, titled John Cena, captured the biggest attention yet.
So, you don't know who John Cena - the American professional wrestler, actor and television personality who calls himself the "Prototype"? You obviously don't follow the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on one of ZA's free TV channels.
This feat inspired this blog post.
Table of Contents
Sho Madjozi's #JohnCena song became a global success in less than 2 weeks
Tweet 1:
Sho Madjozi launches the #JohnCena video on Youtube.
Colors, we have have arrived and it is alll the wayyyy liiiit 😂😂🙌🏽 #ColorsxShoMadjozi 🙌🏽🙌🏽🎉🎉💃🏽💃🏽: watch it now: https://t.co/wSr6XgiktD pic.twitter.com/Lots6SiKJq
— #JohnCena (@ShoMadjozi) August 15, 2019
Tweet 2:
A new wave takes the #JohnCena trend to the next level, with #JohnCenaChallenge
Yo, @ShoMadjozi, Swahili pronunciation score out of 10? #JohnCena #JohnCenaChallenge pic.twitter.com/EfilURv63P
— James Bassingthwaighte (@JamesBassJHB) August 21, 2019
John Cena’s fans from across the world take part in the challenge, some singing and many others dancing to the Sho Madjozi tune.
The Mzansi Youth Choir’s #JohnCenaChallenge dance takes the cake for me.
@ShoMadjozi you inspire us so much 👑 NGIYABONGA THANK YOU ASANTE for everything you represent. Silandela ezinyathelweni zakho, sis. #JohnCena #JohnCenaChallenge #mzansiyouthchoir #prideofsoweto pic.twitter.com/nK6aEEpWVR
— Mzansi Youth Choir (@MYCSoweto) August 22, 2019
The WWE publishes an article about the song on the official Website.
Tweet 3:
The Youtube video hits 1 million views.
One million views!!!!!! 🎉 🎉🎉🎉 Thanks for watching #ColorsxShoMadjozi 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 shoutout to @dwpacademy !!! Shoutout to @colorsxstudios for allowing us to do our thing 🤗🤗🤗 Which crew are youuuu???? #JohnCena pic.twitter.com/wECYHMI6kK
— #JohnCena (@ShoMadjozi) August 21, 2019
My homie was mad because John Cena is everywhere, he got home and switched on the news and .... 😂😂😂😂😂😂🙌🏽🙏🏽 #JohnCena pic.twitter.com/sgPczWyWSb
— #JohnCena (@ShoMadjozi) August 22, 2019
As I publish this blog post, 2 weeks and 1 day since the #JohnCena video was published, it has been viewed 1,833,622 times!
This is well-deserved for one of South Africa’s rare talent.
I am officially one of her big fans.
The overwhelming love shown to Sho Madjozi is captured in the social media stats
All there is to a Engagement Rate (ER) is an indication of the extent of involvement of one’s followers.
Not surprisingly, Instagram and Facebook have higher ER than Twitter.
The growth of followers is more pronounced when broken down into daily movements in the graph below.
While #JohnCena was blowing up globally, Sho Madjozi's Limpopo Provincial government did not seem to take interest
Well, I say this because the Provincial government did not participate in the social media euphoria, which peaked between the 21st and the 23rd of August.
Even the excuse that all this happened Women’s Month did not move the Office of the Premier to want to say something about one of Limpopo’s best female entertainment exports.
Using Twitter’s advanced search feature reveals that there has never been a mention of @ShoMadjozi from the official Provincial government handle.
Ever.
To give credit where it is due, the Limpopo Tourism has tweeted about Sho Madjozi. But even this account did little to leverage the #JohnCena trending topic.
The only form of participation was a retweet of this tweet.
If "Mitirho ya Vulavula" Was a person her Name would be @ShoMadjozi 👏🙌🙌Thank you for putting Limpopo on the Map & Representing Your People 💗❤🙏#JohnCenaChallenge pic.twitter.com/LX0cmO9DyV
— MADE IN GIYANI ❤ (@Kate_LukZ) August 22, 2019
3 reasons why the Limpopo Provincial government must get involved in the success of Sho Madjozi?
First.
In addition to her rising star, Sho Madjozi wears the fact that she comes from this Province on her sleeve, literally.
Hers is a great story worth celebrating at the highest levels of public office by a Province that has recently been suffering from repeated bouts of negative news, including the VBS saga.
On an equally important point, just type “Limpopo” in the Twitter search window and see which handle tops the list.
Second.
Real-life stories by ordinary citizens achieving extra-ordinary things help to make governments relevant to their citizens.
They help the political office to connect.
They help them to communicate the message that they are “in the know” and “in with the crowd”.
When the former President Zuma joined #TheDabChallenge at he height of this dance move years ago, this gave another side to him.
It made him human, like he is “one of us”, like he is in touch with what is trending.
Third.
In rural Provinces such as Limpopo, government plays a big role in the lives of ordinary people.
The absence of the political support, or at least endorsement, of Madjozi is concerning.
This may mean that some of the citizens in the Province potentially do not have knowledge of one of their own who is setting the global entertainment industry on fire, due to Government not playing its role in the spreading of this great story far into the deep rural areas of the Province.
Limpopo Province can learn from the best
As the tweet from the usual suspect here below shows, there is a lot the Province could have done to leverage the recent achievement by its patriotic citizen.
Did you guys hear the line in the song when @ShoMadjozi says:
— City of Joburg (@CityofJoburgZA) August 22, 2019
'Switch off the lights
Turn off the plugs#Saveelectricity like #JohnCena'
Aiiich...🎶💃🏾 ^GZ pic.twitter.com/21LoIQTKnh
So much can still be done
If I were Premier Stan Mathabatha, I would make a big splash about Madjozi’s achievements and her commitment to promoting her culture on world stages. I would go as far as bestow the Freedom of Polokwane – the Province’s Capital – on her.
Claim her now, Mr Premier, while her star is still rising. But do this only for the benefit of the people of Limpopo.
Nuff said about the missed opportunities.
