‘I just want to tell my story’

DOMINOES: UNBREAKABLE SPIRIT SOMIZI MHLONGO PUTS HIS TALE OF SURVIVING HARDSHIP INTO A BOOK TO INSPIRE OTHERS

Tshepiso Makhele

Some adore him and some find him a bit too much, but none of this changes the fact that popular South African choreographer and radio and television personality Somizi Mhlongo is the epitome of success.

He is proof that coming from a township, growing up in a four-roomed house in an alcohol-soaked environment and making bad decisions doesn’t have to be the end of one’s dreams.

Mhlongo tells his story in Dominoes: Unbreakable Spirit, which he wrote with the help of journalist and author Lesley Mofokeng.

He makes some revelations in the hope of touching a few lives and making a difference.

“The idea of the book came about in 2009, when I got my second chance and was supposed to choreograph the World Cup and the Confederations Cup,” Mhlongo said. He wanted to write about the trials he had been through in his life, but then he thought about what kind of story it would be without a happy ending – so he put off writing it for a bit.

He started working on it last year, recording voice-notes and sending them to Mofokeng.

“I initially said to Somizi that we should call his book ‘Whoo Shem’, after the Sarafina! actor’s popular phrase and he was immediately dismissive of that title.

“He felt it would not deliver the message that Dominoes delivers,” Mofokeng said, adding that Mhlongo gave him strict instructions not to use big words and not to make him sound like someone that he isn’t.

Mofokeng said that although he signed a non-disclosure form, the

There were times, he says, when he could have committed suicide.

44-year-old star had been very honest and open with him, pointing out that everyone has their own version of Mhlongo’s life.

“After the book had been announced, people came to me with their different versions. ‘Did he tell you this? Did he introduce you to this person?’

“But my answer to them was to let him own his story and respect him for telling it.”

He said Mhlongo told his truth and he was happy with what he gave him in their interactions and in the recordings.

“My book is not a tell-all,” Mhlongo said. “My book is not desperate for sales.

“It is not going to use other people’s names to break records. It is not to embarrass anyone,” he said, explaining that the aim was to inspire others.

“If I can inspire one person who is on the verge of ending their life that would be enough for me.

“Who I slept with is none of your business. Who took cocaine in front of me is none of your business, unless the person has already come out,” he said.

The choreographer says regardless of what people might think, he is not trying to be the next big author.

“I just wanted to tell my story. I believe there is a reason why I’m who I am in terms of status or fame. “My book speaks to everyone.” Although he did not regard himself as a special case, he said he has had to face a lot of challenges in his life journey and had it not been for his unbreakable spirit, he would have given up.

“There were times that qualified me to commit suicide and I didn’t. There were times that qualified me to become a drug addict and I didn’t become one. There were times where I had an opportunity to be a fraudster and I didn’t become one.

“There were moments I looked at myself and felt like it was the end and I didn’t want to see daylight, but my spirit knew that I was going to be here today,” Mhlongo said. He wants to save that 22-year-old with all the money in the world from making the same mistake he made: going from having R2 million in their bank account to R11, and wanting to kill themselves because they can’t keep up with the lifestyle.

South African television personality, beauty pageant titleholder, businesswoman and philanthropist Basetsana Khumalo wrote the foreword in Mhlongo’s book– and it was an emotional process for her.

“It was almost as if I wasn’t thinking about what I was writing, but it was flowing through me and there was an energy about it,” she said. “I remember Somizi and I at Lebo Mathosa’s funeral. We looked at each other and said ‘my friend, let’s go out and win in this thing called life’. And hopefully our journey over the years has inspired the new generation to go out and win too.”

Mhlongo says he and Khumalo have come a long way and she knows him too well.

“Bassie is a perfect example of not letting money or fame change your soul. She inspires me to not lose myself,” Mhlongo said about selecting Khumalo to write the preface.