Reality is ‘pretty cool’ for Lasizwe
● At just 20, vlogger-turned-reality-TV-star Lasizwe Dambuza is living his dream, rubbing shoulders with future leaders and flying the flag at international gatherings of young minds.
Days after returning from the annual European Development Days (EDD) meeting in Brussels, Dambuza flew to Paris to attend a YouTube Creators Summit with other top content creators.
“It took my breath away to realise that I am in the same room as people like Caspar Lee,” he said from the French capital. “I’m sitting here rubbing shoulders with a worldrenowned YouTube content creator and that is pretty cool.”
The Brussels event, organised by the European Commission, brings young people together to share ideas about building a sustainable and fairer world.
“MTV called me and asked me if I would be keen to go to the EDD as a representative of MTV Africa,” he said.
“The EDD is all about youth empowerment and what young people are doing to help improve their countries’ economies, and it was overwhelming to be in that room and realise that these young people are not only hard workers but they are all about their communities.
“The youngsters I met there are not about ‘likes’ and followers, they are about changing the world. They use their platforms to change lives. It actually made me introspect and think that maybe I need to change my perspective on certain things.”
Dambuza began posting parody videos on YouTube when he was still in high school, filming them in his bedroom in Pimville, Soweto. Around 2016, his social media following started growing exponentially, especially when it emerged that he is TV personality Khanyi Mbau’s half-brother.
Since then, Dambuza has cemented his profile as an online influencer and entertainer. In 2018 he was announced as Fanta SA’s teen marketing director, and he became the first South African vlogger to have his own reality-TV show, @Lasizwe: Fake It Till You Make It, on MTV. His show has to vie for the top spot against reality shows of A-listers such as Bonang Matheba and Somizi Mhlongo.
“Being MTV’s first reality TV show star is quite powerful but also comes with a lot of responsibility, because of the space it is and the people I have to compete with for the top spot,” said Dambuza.
“But I really just want to have fun with it. That’s who I am, and as an entertainer I believe when I am myself, the show will always be entertaining.”