Choose Africa’s top influencer
Bonang Matheba, Minnie Dlamini-Jones and Cassper Nyovest have been nominated in the African Influencer category at the E! People’s Choice Awards
SOME of the biggest names on the African continent are in the running to be crowned African Influencer of the year in the E! People’s Choice Awards.
The nominees are: Bonang Matheba, pictured (South Africa), Cassper Nyovest (South Africa), Davido (Nigeria), Diamond Platnumz (Nigeria), Minnie Dlamini-Jones (South Africa), Tiwa Savage (Nigeria), Wizkid (Nigeria) and Yemi Alade (Nigeria).
The awards ceremony, to be held in November, pays homage to talent in music, TV, movies and pop culture.
Matheba has enjoyed a longrunning relationship with E! In 2015, she was profiled in the locallyproduced series, E! News Special, along with Terry Pheto, Shashi Naidoo, AKA, Danny K.
She also co-hosted the E! Beyond
the Red Carpet special for the 10th annual South African Film and Television Awards.
Presenter and actress DlaminiJones was part of E!’s 15-year celebration.
Meanwhile, rapper Nyovest, who recently announced his #FillUpRoyalBafokeng show, is often in the spotlight for his social media wars. He’s also in several TV commercials, currently on air.
Nigeria’s musical heavyweights are dominating the inaugural category.
While celebs have taken to social media to share their good news and get fans to cast their votes, Matheba received interesting reactions to her tweet:
“Hey hey! I’ve been nominated for an E! People’s Choice Award.
Soooo cool!! I’ll need your help, to vote click here - http:// bit.ly/InfluencerVoteNow
#BonangMatheba #AfricanInfluencer”
Fans were upset they could not vote for her because they had been blocked on her social media account.
During an interview with Real Goboza, she said:
“They call me Block-ang, I don’t like to argue with people, I don’t like dilo tse snaaks, loosely translated, ‘I don’t entertain negative energy, I would rather block you’.
“Those things really hurt me...I have 3.3 million (now 3,5m) followers on Twitter, I’ve got 2,7milliom (now 2,9m) followers on Instagram, and 1,7 on Facebook, imagine all of that, so I have to try to keep away ‘not so nice’ from me as much as possible.
“Sometimes when you’re quiet, people think you’re stupid, so every now and then, I need to remind people that I’m nice but I’m not stupid, and I don’t take nonsense.”
While some fans were celebrating her milestone, others were angry over her actions.
“I can’t vote for #bonangmatheba coz blocked me,” wrote @CoolPhola_ MP.
“I wish I could vote for her, but she BLOCKED ME so hasale fela foo #BonangMatheba,” added @troybeezwane.
“People be saying “I can’t vote for Bonang” because she blocked me ...... so she blocked you for scrolling down her timeline? Minding your business?
“Bonang is not sick in her head .... she won’t block you for nothing. well done Bonang Matheba. block their Ass (s),” commented @MissQabs.
While the other personalities have been quiet about their nomination, this good news deserves to be celebrated.
The awards ceremony will take place in Santa Monica, California, on November 10. South African viewers can watch it on E! (DStv channel 124) from 2am on Monday morning (November 11).
In the meantime, fans can cast their vote, up to 25 times, per category, per day, until October 19.
You can vote online, via pca.eonline.com or on Twitter by including one category hashtag, one corresponding nominee hashtag, and #PCAs.
The hashtags are: #CassperNyovest, #Davido, #DiamondPlatnumz, #BonangMatheba, #Minnie, #TiwaSavage and #Wizkid.