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Stanford Chiwanga, Saturday Chronicle News Editor
Are you feeling stuck in your career? Do you feel like you are not fulfilling your life’s purpose? If so, you might want to take some inspiration from Ruth Zobvuta’s story.

Ruth, (26), who grew up in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and is now based in Johannesburg, South Africa, had a good job as a masseuse, but things started to go wrong for her. She suffered from multiple accidents, had difficulty managing her finances, and even got sick and couldn’t walk. Being a masseuse had its challenges, including physical burnout and clients who expected more than professional services.

Ruth Zvobvuta

It was only after she had a scary dream that the former Mabhukudwana Primary School and Mandwandwe High School pupil realised she had not heeded the calls of her ancestors, who were about to leave and punish her.

Ruth’s father was a healer, and he had passed on the gift to her. It was only then that she realised that she needed to quit being a masseuse and focus more on her ancestral calling. She started working as a seer, someone who is called to heal, and through whom ancestors from the spirit world can give instruction and advice to heal illness, social disharmony, and spiritual difficulties.

“My family supported me, though it was a hard task and I think my mother knew it would be difficult for me because I’m young. I’m just glad that my friends also supported me, they never judged me. I grew up nicknamed Dokotela, I am not sure whether I was named after a great family ancestor who was a healer or something beyond my level of understanding and unfortunately all of my elders who used the nickname passed on and no one is left to explain.

“I used to have this elevated ego that whatever I dream it became reality, many things happened and people died and I have seen it before they happened. My dreams were very accurate and I was over the moon about it, not realising that the more I kept my silence the more things that could have been stopped happened.”

Ruth Zobvuta

Ruth works in a sacred healing hut where she believes her ancestors reside, and they reveal to her prophetic visions of the future or a current revelatory truth. She also had to deal with people’s doubts about her abilities because of her age and physical appearance.

“People that I went to school with sometimes doubt me because they believe that seers don’t wear short or revealing clothes, they are not supposed to go to salons to fix themselves. Maybe it’s because I’m young that’s why they doubt me, I don’t know.

“There is no cut-out cloth rule in terms of what should be obvious on a person with a calling,” she says.
Besides being a traditional healer, Ruth is a socialite and promo girl. A promotional model is a model hired to drive consumer demand for a product, service, brand, or concept by directly interacting with potential customers. Most promotional models are conventionally attractive in physical appearance.

“Everyone has a side job and my side hustle is promo events such as music shows and products. I love that job because it takes me places,” she says.

Ruth was recently in Matabeleland South where she was one of the star attractions at the Matopos Sailing’s “Big Chill” event which was organised by Morden Magnet Investments in partnership with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) and 3D Events Management. — @plainstan