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Loliwe hitmaker Zahara is believed to have been thrown a lifeline with a brand-new reality television show which is set to première on SABC soon.
However, she is alleged to be showing diva tendencies, sometimes failing to pitch for shoots.
This comes a few months after she was reported to be struggling and on the verge of losing her posh Little Falls home in Roodepoort, west of Johannesburg, due to an outstanding debt with a bank.
City Press understands that, even though the filming of the show faced a few setbacks as the controversial star (whose given name is Bulelwa Mkutukana) and the production team failed to see eye to eye on several issues, filming is currently in the final stages.
READ: More trouble for Zahara as bank aims to auction her townhouse
Two sources close to the production revealed that filming of the show was almost cut short after the singer missed a shoot this week.
“They had to call a meeting with the SABC on Wednesday after she missed a shoot and asked the producers to come to her at a different location. She said she was visiting some guy in Katlehong and the film crew should follow her there if they wanted to film that day,” said the source.
Another source revealed that Mkutukana’s new “problem child” tendencies were becoming tedious for the production team.
“It wasn’t the first time. About two weeks ago, she missed a flight back to Johannesburg because she’d had a quarrel with a member of her management team at the East London airport after we’d gone to her home to film her with her family,” said the individual.
The production team allegedly became fed up with Mkutukana’s behaviour and reported her to the SABC, which then called a meeting with her in which it delivered an ultimatum: either get back on track to wrap up the filming of the show or lose the contract.
Added the source:
The songstress’s unprofessional behaviour was apparently not confined to filming. Two weeks ago, she was recorded singing off-tune at the Macufe Divas concert in Bloemfontein, where audience members accused her of going on stage under the influence of alcohol.
However, the star hit back, denying she was drunk and claiming that her performance had been edited and posted on social media to make her look bad.
She then posted another video and wrote: “Don’t edit things to put me down. God is good all the time. Stop this nonsense!”
The show is seen as her redemption, after her home was almost auctioned off due to money she owed her bank.
READ: Zahara’s Sama awards stolen
City Press report earlier this year that the star was close to losing her residence because Nedbank was set to auction it on May 7 after obtaining an execution from the Johannesburg High Court. The auction was prevented thanks to donations from the public.
A week earlier, six SA Music Awards had been stolen from the same residence by unknown intruders.
The star told City Press at the time that she had been touring in the Eastern Cape to mark her 11 years in the music industry when the robbery took place.
“When I came back, my gardener said he’d arrived at my house and found the front door open, although we weren’t at home. I’d locked the door when I left. I’ve been living here for 10 years and we haven’t had a single break-in before,” she said.
By the time of going to print, neither Mkutukana nor the SABC spokesperson had responded to questions sent to them about the reality television show.
