Skhumba Zaziwa prank sets Twitter alight

Khaya FM comedian Skhumba Hlope got the shock of his life on SABC1’s Zaziwa on Thursday night.

Skhumba, one of the funniest and successful comedians in the country, was being interviewed by the show’s host Pearl Modiadie when a woman, under the disguise of being his fan, was introduced to the show.

Pearl asked her to ask the comedian whatever question she wanted to as a fan. Instead of asking the question, she revealed she was not there as Skhumba’s fan but as his nyatsi – a “side chick”. She started to cry, saying she has a child with Skhumba and the child was in hospital, suffering from a liver-related sickness, and Skhumba wasn’t contributing at all in taking care of the child.

Skhumba, who’s currently married, out of shock denied knowing her, and tried to jokingly dismiss the allegations. But she kept crying, and things seemed to get more convincing. Pearl’s acting wasn’t helping at all, either. You could see Skhumba’s face showing more perplexity as the woman revealed how Skhumba had ignored her for years.

As she wept even more, the producer of the show came to the forefront to comfort and give her some tissue papers. And then, when emotions were really running high, the show took what seemed to be an unplanned commercial break.

When it returned from the break, Pearl revealed that it was all a prank, disappointing journalists who were almost done writing their ground-breaking story.

“I was pranked,” confirmed the good sport Skhumba. He joked to the woman: “Your peers are acting on Generations.”

Zaziwa is a talk show that gives viewers a chance to get to know their favourite celebrities “through the music that has helped shape their lives”.

This is what people had to say on Twitter: