Fikile Mbalula was trending this week, not for the Beyoncé saga but rather for his two day launch of his foundation.
Firstly, I was invited to the Night Of Inspiration which was a conference hosted by the Fikile Mbalula Foundation. It all went down on Wednesday at the Sandton Convention Centre.
Although the conference commenced 2 hours late, it was worthwhile. The speakers included "Bra Mbaks" as I heard some people call the "honourable minister," Dr Bois and closed off with the international Bishop, Noel Jones.
The evening was definitely a night of inspiration with Bishop Noel Jones leaving all of us with a lot of motivation and words of encouragement. He spoke about our different gifts and talents and mentioned how there should be no haters around because we are all complete beings and God gave us talents that are enough to provide for our livelihood.
Dr Bois also gave us powerful words and focused on how it's vital for us to know and understand our history - the history of our country, culture and the world at large.
Bra Mbaks emphasised that the foundation was launched in his personal capacity and had nothing to do with his role as Minister of Sports. He explained that the foundation was aimed at young girls from impoverished backgrounds.
When asked why the foundation was aimed at girls and not boys, he gave an example of how young girls becoming pregnant and the guys leaving them to fend off for themselves. This, whilst the guy progresses in his life, completing school and graduating from varsity, whilst the uneducated girl becomes a single parent that ends up being a domestic worker.
Oh, how can I forget how he handed all of us chairs to sit down and told us that it was no platform for Beyoncé queries. Hahaha...
Moving right along...
Thursday the Fikile Mbalula Foundation hosted a dinner for the elite and obviously people who had a couple of millions lying around. The event was held at the Sandton Sun. Our envelopes with our seat numbers, contained pledge forms and for a second there I wished I could also get some donations.
The decor for the dinner was fit for royalty. It was really beautiful and looked like a lot of money was spent on the venue.
The event was flooded with international personalities. They included "For Coloured Girls" actress, Kimberly Elise; model Chrissy Teigen, she's the future "Mrs John Legend" and Hot 97 Breakfast co-host Miss Kay Fox.
I also had to get my "groupie" moment with the beautiful Regina Hall and Sanaa Lathan. Regina was in the recent Act Like A Lady Think Like A Man. She's almost unrecognisable after losing a lot of weight.
Bishop Noel Jones made an appearance during the launch, seen here with SA's Slim who has MCeed at the NBA AllStars in Orlando, USA. The Vice President on the NBA in Africa Amadou Gallo Fall.
Our local stars also graced the red carpet, showing the international stars a thing or two about dressing to the nines. Thami Ngubeni, Azania Mosaka (no more Ndoro) and Miss SA Melinda Bam were my best dressed.
Lee-Ann (nee Liebenberg) and hubby or rather mr van der Walt were not too shabby either. Pity the sportsmen Joost van der Westhuizen and Jimmy Tau were rolling solo respectively. I heard someone whisper what a shame it was that Joost would be no more in 4 years time. I know he's done some terrible things but I hope they find him a cure soon. Anything is possible in this age of technology. On the other hand, Tau was limping his way around the entire function. Isn't he married? Just asking
I know I'm tall, but daaaaym... Baby Jake Matlala makes me feel like a giant. Lol. I wasn't paying much attention during the auction because clearly that type of money was beyond me. lol.
I hear the framed picture of Madiba was auctioned off for R100 000, Muhammed Ali's glove went for R65 000 and Doctor Khumalo's T-shirt managed to sell for R35 000. We were told that all the proceeds would go the foundation.
Also in attendance were Yvonne Chaka Chaka and hubby Dr Mhinga. Tbo Touch, who was the MC for the night, introduced Yvonne as the princess of South Africa, then the oohs and aahs followed as people clearly disputed that. Ouch!
Former "Mrs Bob Mabena" Zandile Nzalo was in good spirit and looking hot. I wonder what she's up to these days, but she must be rolling in the $$$ to have cracked an invite. Yeah, I was the only "nobody" that was invited. Hahaha
There was absolutely no way that the minister would host a function without inviting fellow comrades. Bantu Holomisa was pretty prominent at the function and even shared a couple of words. Unfortunately I can't remember what he said. *hides*
Then it was the ANCYL gang comprising of suspended ANCYL Secretary-General Sindiso Magaqa, Axed ANCYL President Julius Malema and former ANC Chief Whip Tony Yengeni.Axed ANCYL spokesman Floyd Shibambu brought along his boo-thang, former YFM Producer, Eda Rose. I guess birds of a feather roll together, because everyone here is a former something. Hope they are not jobless...
The man of the moment, Fikile Mbalula. Jealous down, he hosted a superb event and we hope the foundation will run just as smoothly.
One question though... What were all those American celebrities doing at the function? I hope they are pledging big bucks, in US dollars.