She has received threats from the fans of her ex-boyfriend and musician Jabulani "Sjava' Hadebe. She is constantly a victim of mob intimidation on social media. She has not had a day's rest. Anything she posts, she is bound to get a response from someone bringing up the alleged rape incident. Singer and songwriter Lady Zamar, real name Yamikani Janet Banda's latest artwork has many talking.

RAPE ACCUSATIONS

In the last couple of years, Lady Zamar has had to practice a lot of self-love. In 2018, the Collide singer accused ex-lover, Sjava of raping her at the Porche-Villa Hotel and Conference Centre in Thohoyandou in 2017. In an expose on social media, she stated the sex she had with Sjava was non-consensual."That morning, we were making out, kissing, and he had invited me into his hotel room. We had never been alone together, while this was happening, suddenly this person starts taking off my clothes and he raped me,' she shared.The case was passed on to the National Prosecuting Authority( NPA) and later withdrawn by the Director of Public Prosecutions in court. In an interview with ZiMoja, the singer says she has since been criticised, called names and bullied on social media. "I block negativity. My mind has been trained to see certain cues from afar. I have people who work on my social media and they know when to block. I block negativity. I hardly see it anymore,' she says. "My mom would advise me back then not to read the negative comments on social media and it took me time to understand that. Right now, I don't care, you all can keep talking. Clearly, my life is interesting. If people remember their studies, more than they remember my business, then they'd be happier.' Lady Zamar says she is at a self-accepting phase of her life. "There is a lot of accepting I've had to do. A lot of introspection,' she says, adding, "I used to think that other people's actions reflected who I was. I used to believe that whenever someone treated me badly, it must have been something I have done. But I have learned that people's actions are independent of me. They choose how they treat you and whether they will be nice to you and treat you with respect. All you have to do is live your best life,' she says.

THE BACKLASH

Lady Zamar's recent work has had divided opinions after releasing the artwork for what is believed to be her upcoming project. In the artwork, she shows protest placards written "You are cancelled' with one written "We haven't forgot 10and another "World Gone Crazy.' Some believe it is a brave move, while others continue to troll her. "So, Sjava has still an apology from you? Ja, the world is really crazy then,' one fan says. "No, and we won't forget shem. Especially as you're playing victim after such a serious offence,' said another.

SPEAKING POSITIVELY

 Last year, at the release of her four-track EP titled Royal Flush, she opened up to ZiMoja saying she was no longer interested in the music industry and its politics and questioned whether she made the right decision by being part of it in the first place. But she was reminded by her fans on her social media that she is missed and needs to come back strong. "My fans really convinced me to come back and release music, again. They would ask in my DMs when I was dropping music. I was writing and singing it at home but wasn't ready to go to the studio,' she shared. "Royal Flush deals with four different topics; the recurring pain that one faces in life, and another is some sort of perfect love that slips away because of life. I think we all have experienced that. The other topic is what we are doing now in our society, constantly wanting to speak positivity in our existence and try to affirm ourselves and manifest good things into our lives. Then the last topic is self-love and dealing with who I am,' she says.

DOUBTS ABOUT MUSIC

 The last project she released before Royal Flush was Monarch in 2019. "It was so long ago. I wasn't sure If I ever wanted to release music again. I think there comes a point in your career where there is so much doubt and questioning about whether you are on the right path. I was questioning why I came into this space,' she shared. "Honestly, I'm an introvert, and having my business out all the time was not fun. I wanted to create distance from that person that was always in the media.' Lady Zamar is an academic, and had she not been singing, she would be studying. "I have qualifications in Language and Literature. I majored in Literature and English.I have also studied, not completed three years of Civil Engineering, as well as studied, not completed, Accounting. So, I have a love for academia and there are a lot of things that I could have done besides music,' she says.