(^019) | 17
ABOVE:SibuinIsiba
withco-starAbdul
Khoza.LEFT:She
touredwithher
gqomsquad
astyear.
RIGHT:Twospecial
peopleinherlife–
hermom,Monica
Jili,andherson.
AA aya
w
KK
tt
g
l
RR
p
h
J
the songs is about an ex-boyfriend
she now believes was a con artist.
“That man almost broke me,” she
says. “It’s like he could smell my
vulnerability and he preyed on that.”
The 30-year-old single mom met
the guy, whose name is known to
DRUM, on social media last year.
“I get a lot of inbox messages from
men and I usually ignore them. I don’t
know why I respond to his messages.”
The more they chatted, the more
Sibu was intrigued. He told her he
lived with his mother, a lawyer, in
the north of Johannesburg while
he was studying to be a pilot. “He
was perfect – in fact, too good to
be true.”
For six months she was fooled
into thinking he was the man
she’d been praying for. “He’d even
visit me and come with pilot
school papers and pretend to be
studying. He was a proper con man.”
The actress found out he’d been lying
when she was approached at parties
and in malls by women who claimed the
man was a con. “People I had never met
saw me with him and warned me about
their own experiences with the guy,” she
says. “Luckily he wasn’t getting any
money from me, but I found out he’d
been tricking women to give him money.”
The man didn’t only pretend to be a
trainee pilot. Sibu, who owns production
company House of Cards, claims he also
scammed women, including her stylist
Smah Mzolo. “Smah is one of the people
who approached me to tell me I need to
stay away from this guy.”
After trading war stories about
the man who had charmed them, the
businesswomenbecamesoclosethe
actresshiredSmah,whoalsoownsher
own clothin
a business
orderedT-
never paid
peared.He
mediaacc
datingmin
“Thebas
Instagram
to myban
didn’ttake
think hedid
from meb
using mea
dodgy deali
S
from thep
were callingonhisbehalf, they used his
name. He opened a case against me
claiming I was harassing him, but all I
did was ask for my Instagram password
and for him to stay far away from me.”
Her resolve was strengthened by a
warning from her mother, Monica Dolly
Thembekile Jili, a retired teacher. “My
family is very spiritual, we are a tradition-
al Zulu family,” she says. “My mom
dreamt I was dating a guy and he
got me into serious trouble. She
advised me to leave whoever I
was seeing. And I did just
that, I left him.”
Sibu blocked his calls and
changed her number. She
took her three-year-old son
and moved in with her mom
at the behest of her three
sisters, Slindile (32), Nomthan-
dazo (28) and Nontobeko (23).
“They just wanted me to be safe.”
She regrets introducing the guy to her
little boy. “I don’t like exposing my child
tomen,butI thoughthewasspecial.”
She’ssincemovedintoa newflatbut
tilshe
home.
ctress,
y con-
hoin-
work
people
work,
ails.
could
ured.”
mher
s put-
r.
il,”she
nalyst
ndton
friend
s very
est.”
aking
t want
cehim
burnt
ntmynlucky
wthat
herself
elievestingto
going
on.”‘M
start
sha
going
dir
wwwwww rum.co.za8 AUGUST 20ngstore.“Hescammedherin
sdeal,”Sibusays.“He- shirtsfromherbut
dinfullanddisap-
edeletedhissocial-
countsbut kept up-
e.
tardhackedmy
. Hegotaccess
k accountbut
eanymoney.I
dn’t wanttosteal
butmighthavebeen
as a cover-up for his
ings.”
IBUsaysshedidn’t
presschargesasshe
wanted to forget
about the incident
andmoveonbutwas
surprisedtogeta call
police.“They said theyhersonwillstaywithhermomun
feelssafeenough forhimtocomeh
Theincidenthasshakentheac
whohasbecomemoresecurity
scious.“Idon’ttrustanyonewh
boxesme,whetherit’s
orjusttosocialise.Ifp
wanttotalkaboutw
theyshouldsendema
“Iwanttobesafe.I
havediedorbeeninju
Havinglearntfrom
badexperience,Sibui
tingthe pastbehindher
“I meta newguyinApri
reveals.“Siyaisa salesan
at Mercedes-BenzinSan
andwemetthroughaf
at aget-together.He’s
calm,openandhone
Thistimeshe’s t
things slow.“Idon’t
to rushtointroduc
tomyfamily.Igot
beforeandI wan
sontobesafe.”
Sibuhasbeenun
inlove,butnow
she’sreinventingh
as a singer,shebe
she’sontrack.
“Mylifeisstart
takeshapeandis
in the right directioMy life is
ingtotake
apeandis
intheright
rection’
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