FETCHING MY LIFE… and then some

Kick-ass broadcaster, author and allround fierce human being Unathi Nkayi on how she’s rediscovering parts of herself that she’d left behind in her 20s!

- KEMONG MOPEDI

I can’t think of a time when being in a black hair salon didn’t bring me — and, I’m quite certain, many other women too — the greatest joy. Between the ludicrous gossip, medley of accents that fill the often-cramped space and new-found confidence we walk out with (thanks to the fresh hairdos), salons can be both therapeutic and the quickest distributors of rumours. It’s for this reason that I’m slightly concerned when Unathi suggests that we meet at her regular hair spot for our interview. Located in a quaint Lonehill shopping centre, the joint is surprisingly quiet — but then again, it’s a weekday afternoon. The occasional white noise of the hairdryer and Unathi murmuring, “big or small” — as she hands sections of fibre to stylist Khulekani — are the only reminders that this, indeed, is a place where women’s strands come for pampering.

Unathi is braiding her hair into a get-up-and-go style ahead of the Trinidad and Tobago vacation that had us camping on her Instagram page in mid-February. Hers is one of the most instantly recognisable faces, thanks to a TV, radio and singing career spanning almost two decades. Surely the idea of discussing intimate details in front of strangers, in a hair salon, did cross her mind? “Ag, why would I have a problem if all I’m going to be is honest with you? I figured whoever hears me will probably read the story anyway — which is why I’m always truthful and authentic,” she explains — a justification I perceive as the epitome of freedom.