Watch Out World Here Comes Nadia

Social-media star turned actress turned musician turned businesswoman – there are many sides to nadia jaftha and she’s done letting what others think dictate the spaces she can and can’t occupy. Nadia is coming for everything and this is only the beginning of the ride

- Yamkela Mdaka

It’s 8am on a cold tuesday morning and I’m standing outside nadia jaftha’s building. We’re about to take what will turn out to be an 8 000-step walk for her first wh cover interview. Nadia comes out dressed in an olive green sweater, sweatpants to match and sneakers and she’s got a new haircut after recently donating her hair in aid of cancer. While I might have expected her to have an enormous personality from the get-go, she’s cool, calm, open and collected. “I almost forgot to put on my mask!” is the first thing she says to me, laughing, and I immediately know that the secret to nadia’s success can be summed up in one simple, yet fitting, word: authenticity.

Our conversation is off to an easy and effortless start. The social-media star tells me that she’s in Johannesburg for work but is looking forward to flying back home to Cape Town in a few days. A self-confessed homebody, Nadia admits that the national lockdown didn’t put a damper on her usual JHB escapades because they usually involve a lot of time spent indoors anyway. “I like my own space,” she says. “I’ll sometimes stay with friends, but I do prefer to stay by myself – I like the freedom.”

A winning formula

I’m meeting with Nadia just days after she and Men's Health cover star alumnus Trevor Lagerway (#TeamCoolRed) were announced as the winners of SABC 3’s celebrity reality show