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Auxilia Katongomara Showbiz Reporter
SHE has been described as one of the best actresses to emerge from Zimbabwe. Breaking into the drama industry back in the 90s at a time when there were notables like Paraffin, Stembeni Makawa, King Dube, Safirio Madzikatire, and Felix Silandulo Moyo, Pretty Xaba earned credibility as one of the few prominent women on the silver screen.

Xaba, better known as Mai Muwengwa for her role in local soap, Studio 263, first hit the small screen as a young, naïve young lady with a distinctly 90s style in the drama production Xola. That was the first step to fame followed by the much acclaimed Coliwe, regarded as one of the best Ndebele drama productions to be produced and screened on national television.

Starring as Coliwe, Xaba played a rather controversial role as a troubled, emotional and sad woman who had just got married and failed to meet her husband and society’s expectation of bearing a child.

Other productions she has starred in are Murambiwa, I want a wedding dress and The gate among others.

Speaking to Saturday Leisure, Xaba said Coliwe earned her mixed reactions from the public as some failed to separate her real life from her on screen role.

“People used to judge me. They thought I was too serious, emotional and infertile in real life.

“People could not distinguish between reality and television roles, so sometimes I was labelled as that woman who stole babies,” said Xaba.

The actress who is a member of the Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries headed by Prophet Walter Magaya said the media portrayed actresses negatively.

“I have done a lot of voluntary work with various communities in Harare but none is reported on, but now that I am not feeling well, they will call and say we heard that you are not well and speculate that it’s HIV,” she said.

She opened up on the difficulties she faced with her husband for her Mai Muwengwa role and the fact that acting was no longer as rewarding as it used to be.

She was born in 1965 in Mhondoro where her grandfather had relocated due to work commitments. She did part of her primary school education in rural Mhondoro before moving to Harare where she attended St Michael and Sandringham High School.

“After school I moved to Rusape where I did temporary teaching before moving back to Mbare suburb in Harare,” said Xaba, who was inspired by Makawa.

Her passion for acting emerged during her stay in the Mbare where there were community projects such as carpentry, dressmaking and theatre.  She decided to try her hand at the last.

“In 1986, I joined a theatre club in Mbare where the leader of the club invited theatre students from the University of Zimbabwe and they used to coach acting,” explained Xaba.

The first acting role that made her the television star she is today came after she heard an advertisement on radio that was calling for actors for a forthcoming television drama.

“I just decided to apply and we were called for auditions. A few weeks later, I received a letter that I had been successful. I was to take part in the television drama series Xola, written by the late King Dube,” said Xaba.

After a successful debut on the small screen, Dube called on her again to portray the main character in the drama series, Coliwe.

She said besides the television drama series, she also began doing radio dramas, short films and educational videos with the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council.

Married with two children, Hope, 24, and Runyararo, 18, Xaba later popped up again a decade later on the soapie Studio 263 as Mai Muwengwa.

Although she has never stayed in Bulawayo, Xaba, has not forgotten her mother language as she constantly interchanges Ndebele and Shona on set.

“My role as Mai Muwengwa caused a lot of problems with my husband, like everyone else. He was not comfortable with my relationship with Muwengwa.

“I was forced to invite Muwengwa and his wife to my house to try and quell the problem,” she said.

She added that her husband had been supportive before they had married but challenges began to emerge after the marriage as she would sometimes work during odd hours, leaving him with the children.

“He was supportive, but as a celebrity, I meet people who hug and greet me happily, which sometimes did not go down well with him,” said Xaba.

She said the arts industry was no longer as rewarding as it used to be due to greedy producers.

“The industry used to pay well because I managed to send my children to ‘A’ schools, but now I cannot do so due to greedy producers. It is now more rewarding to focus on radio programmes than television,” she said.

Xaba, who is also a film and wardrobe make-up artiste, now works for a real estate agency and does radio adverts for survival.

“The challenge that we face as actors and actresses is that people in Zimbabwe have no respect for us, especially in Harare where they just shout anything that they want,” she added.

As a parting shot, Xaba said she wished the likes of Makawa would be around so that they embark on activism for the revival of the film industry.