TruthAboutLies101

A person who is honest and unchanging no matter who may come her way. Be it friends or foe she doesn’t stand for nonsense, basically, she’s a woman who stands her ground. Lwazi Lushozi as she meets with me on a Sunday night straight out of church service. She’s as bubbly as ever, a replica o Jack Black in her actions. Oozing confidence in every step, pulsating attitude as she gesticulates, shooting fierceness with her natural pout and displaying dominance as she takes the floor. Hands in the pockets of her hoodie and wearing the latest spring/summer “skinnies” she’s eager to talk. Without even speaking it is evident that Lwazi is an extrovert which is what makes her such an interesting character.

Lwazi, who is a BCom student at Rhodes University, openly states that she initially applied to NMMU (Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University) as well as Rhodes but was not accepted at NMMU. She’s content with her acceptance and made friends within the first week. Many are intimidated at first by Lwazi’s freedom of expression, “especially guys” she adds. “At the end of my matric year my best friend admitted to being scared of me, but once she got to know me she realized I’m not so scary (I mean we’re best friends)”. “Some people say I’m blunt, but it’s just me, I still haven’t changed even after years of people telling me I’m bold”. She emphasizes, though, the difference between blunt and hurtful and she does not tolerate the latter. “It’s not like I benefit from others’ hurt, I’m not like a fifth grade bully”.
As she recalls her childhood, legs crossed and gazing up at the ceiling mimicking a young girl at school, she remembers no time where she was ever shy or an introvert. She retells a habitual event whilst in Primary School, which involved her leaving her school bag at the top of the hill, running down to the classroom and telling her aunt to go back and fetch it. Early signs of the daring young women all know her as today.

Lwazi mentions that within her family, speaking out when it comes to resolving family issues is not the norm. She herself speaks out when necessary, which in a traditional Zulu family may come across as disrespectful. Being honest herself, Lwazi not only believes that honesty is the most important element of any relationship, be it within family, friends or boyfriends but it’s what people do with that honesty. In other words, amongst friends, when one tells another how those jeans really look on her, it’s not in an effort to mock or make fun of, rather to stop outsiders from doing that. Therefore, accept and be grateful for someone’s advice, “you’re asking for my opinion, aren’t you, so you must be strong enough to take it” Lwazi expects nothing less of her friends either. Still her advice doesn’t send friends running for the hills; she’s still the first port of call when in need of advice, as described by her friend, Asanda Makatesi. Not the cliché, bold and bombastic young woman unaffected by anything, but it’s the fact that people trust her opinion the most. As brutally honest as people say she is, they don’t really want her to change, it’s that honesty that they value and admire.