But coupled with her heavy sepitori and slang words thrown around for the instructions, the video instantly gained over 500,000 views in just one day and had tweeps in stitches, including muso and self-proclaimed President ya Straata Focalistic.
“I was actually cooking for my mom and sister and I decided to vlog since I really enjoy showing people recipes. The twist was that I decided to voice-over instead of writing down the instructions. Initially, the voice-over was in English, however I realised how boring it was, so I changed those to sepitori.
“All because I wanted my awesome recipe to stand out. I was absolutely shocked to see the amount of views it had gotten just the following day,” says the 22-year-old from Pretoria.
Jakavula, or Chipi ya Pitori as she now calls herself, would never miss the opportunity to remind people of her love for Pretoria in her many videos she has released thus far, ranging from a simple day out shopping or attending an event at popular establishment Konka in Soweto.
She believes by shouting out to Pretoria, she is not only representing a city but an entire culture that has produced a lot of stars, including herself.
My team and I make sure that “MandzNotHot” becomes a household name by planning content strategic around my name. I also prioritise taking care of my mental health, it is very important that I am at my best to give the best. I do not have a day job because content creation is my life,” she says.
Looking at how much her life has changed, Jakavula is in awe at what social media has done for her. “I have built an actual career on social media. Who would have thought [of that]? I can now afford so many things that I would only dream of six months ago.
“I have also managed to form incredible relationships in the entertainment industry and rub shoulders with people I’ve always looked up to. I got to work with big brands. Everything has been a dream,” she says.
She is also actively working on pursuing her singing career, a talent that she revealed to her followers and left them in shock. Another thing that shocked the masses was the fact that she is actually a Xhosa-speaking girl.
“I’m actually as shocked as they are that they didn’t know,” she says laughing.
“I thought my name gave it away but also because I have so many videos of me speaking Xhosa on the internet. I thought people would have caught on by now, but hey, surprise, surprise!”
Asked what three words she would use to describe her life right now, she says, “Dilo di chenchitse (things have changed).”
“I think I blew up that quickly because I give people relatable content and because I am not afraid to be real. I speak sepitori very fluently and because it is a language spoken by very few people, most people find it entertaining.
“After that initial blow up, building my brand became an intentional move. I decided to build the “Sho Dnx” brand and that is all that I fill my days with these days.
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