Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Sivanna won’t be dragged down
SIV Ngesi is a shoot-straight-from-the-lip kind of guy. And he’s unapologetic about it.
An actor, comedian, MC and motivational speaker, Ngesi is a household name. And now, so too is his drag queen alter-ego, Sivanna.
He introduced her a little over a month ago for an adidas x IVY PARK campaign.
This was, by all means, a ballsy move on his part. And he knew it.
He explained: “You know, Sivanna could arguably be SA’s most famous drag queen currently. And that’s quite interesting to say. I will say that it has been 90% love and 10% negative. And it is quite easy for people to talk about the negative. But for me, I always knew that the negative was coming. I always knew that the backlash was coming. I was prepared. I was ready.
“I’m glad that I did it at the age that I am now. I think if I had done it three, four years ago, I would have been defensive, I would have fought back.”
He was clear about several other things, too.
“Everyone who has attacked me has attacked me from a place of hurt. I know that the LGBQTIA+ community has gone through a lot. But there has been very constructive feedback. At the end of the day, Sivanna is here to stay and she is here to dominate ... To everyone who thinks she’s a one-hit-wonder, you are mistaken!”
The 35-year-old personality’s message to detractors is for them to best get comfortable with things because nothing’s changing.
He acknowledged: “People’s anger was that they thought I was taking work from other drag artists. I think a lot of them have underestimated me. At the moment, I am working with other drag artists to be able to create TV shows with them, to be able to create roadshows. It is quite unfortunate that a heterosexual man has to get into drag for many of the sponsors to jump on board.
“So there is definitely a plan and I will not be the only face involved. There are a lot of other drag artists involved.”
Ngesi says if people have a problem, it’s on them – not him.
“I’m respectful, I’m humble, I’m here to f**k shit up and I’m not here to play,” he added. “Everyone must be prepared for what she (Sivanna) has planned. To many of the guys out there, you guys are jealous because you can’t get a girlfriend as hot as Sivanna.”
In case you are wondering, Ngesi has about 13 to 14 looks for Sivanna.
Dressed by drag mother, Manila von Teez, they shoot every two to three weeks.
He admitted: “When I’m in a dress, I feel the most powerful and enlightened version of myself. There is definitely a power in wearing a dress, and a vulnerability, that I love.”
Currently in Showmax’s Tali’s Baby Diary, as well as Dam, Ngesi revealed: “When I watched the first season of Tali’s Wedding Diary and I saw Ari (Kruger) and Julia (Anastasopoulous), I said to them, ‘I need to be in the second season. I worked with Ari twice before. The guy (his character) is a lot similar to me: he’s cocky, he’s brash, he’s in your face. In Dam, Victor is a minute character in the whole thing. I really tried to ground him as much as possible. I gave him a very different voice to me. He’s not a bad guy.
“I think a lot of people underestimate me as an actor. I would say I’m one of the best actors in the country and, if I’m given a chance, I can show people. I will say, South Africa as a whole is sleeping on my talent.
“I will keep on climbing mountains and standing on mountains and still make sure I push on and show people how great I am.
“I want to be able to be creating content on social media, I wanna be doing stand-up comedy, I want to be producing content and I want be writing scripts and I want to be acting in as many versatile roles as possible. I’m unapologetic when I say I believe I’m one of the most versatile performers/ entertainers this country has. I’m out to prove it and I take no enemies!”