Would the Real Diamond Please Stand Up

Against the backdrop of sensationalist prostitution claims, I walk into Namibia’s newest celebrity and the hot topic on most people’s lips, Monica ‘Diamond’ Shafooli’s townhouse in Windhoek West.

Just back from the gym, Diamond – clad in a sexy, black tracksuit, no make-up and tied back hair, leads me up the stairs that lead to her front door. Her home is spotlessly clean and well decorated, although I find the décor to be rather masculine. There doesn’t seem to be a female touch. Big leather sofa, zebra skin rug, big screen TV, glass coffee table. In the bathroom I notice two sets of toothbrushes and facecloths, Diamond however – maintains that she lives alone. I’ll Never Suffer Again’My whole life has been traumatic’, she says when recounting how at the age of six, she and her brother, who was just a little older than her at the time, had to travel back to Namibia from Zambia with their father’s dead body.She spent her early childhood in exile in rural Zambia. ‘We played like normal kids but we knew there would always be times that we had to hide suddenly. We just knew that my father was not free in his movements.’ After her father’s death, Monica came back to Namibia, staying with her mother in northern Namibia. ‘We were the first Namibians to return home, so for the first few years, we were kept hidden’ she says of her insecure childhood, in the midst of Namibia’s liberation war. And then her mother died when Monica was 13 years old. She was packed off to live with her uncle, the Namibian Ambassador to Russia at the time.A Taste for White Meat’I was just going through puberty and my uncle had a daughter of my age. We were very naughty, going to clubs and disappearing for entire school holidays.’This, says Diamond – is where she became attracted to white men. ‘They were brought up differently, are more open minded and not as judgemental as black men.’ A feisty, independent woman, Diamond does not look like the type of woman who likes to be told what to do. ‘Black guys seem to be intimidated by me.’After causing havoc in Russia, Monica says she was basically kicked out and sent back to Namibia. She tried studying, registering for courses in Tourism at the Institute of Higher Education and the Polytechnic but says she found them boring. ‘I realised that education is not for me.’Getting Married for all the Wrong ReasonsIt was here, perhaps that Diamond began to see older, wealthy, white men as a means of survival. At the age of 19, essentially an orphan – she married an older Italian businessman. ‘I didn’t know what love was, I was basically homeless – I had no home. I needed a place to live and security.’The marriage only lasted 3 years and Monica admits that it was very bad decision because she went into it for the wrong reasons. As she narrates her version of her story, I am struck by the fact that she seems to have an incredible amount of insight into her past and the mistakes she has made, this – to my mind at least, shows a level of intelligence and maturity.Before leaving her husband, Monica fell pregnant and had a son. When she realised that she could no longer continue with her life as it was, she saved money from her salon business, left her young son, Marco with his father and ran away to London. ‘I couldn’t take my son with me. I didn’t have the money to pay for lawyers to fight on my behalf.’She says that she knew she had to leave Namibia, to get out of a bad marriage. She didn’t know what lay ahead for her, yet she convinced a friend to go overseas with her. The Streets of LondonUpon arrival in London, Monica maintains that she was beset with problems and bad luck, her bag containing N$20 000 worth of travellers cheques had gone missing and she stayed with one of her best friends who treated her very badly and gossiped behind her back.’She was my best friend, my bridesmaid and she charged us £40 each, per week to share one bedroom. She lied at first saying that she had her own flat but it was just a bedsit (renting one room in a house).’After two weeks of hell, being in a vulnerable position and being treated like a housemaid, I got my travellers cheques refunded and decided to leave.’She booked herself into a bed and breakfast and got a job in a canteen, where she says she was worked like a slave. ‘I was regretting yet I knew I couldn’t give up.’Her determination, spurred on by desperation.After a while, she got a job in a salon where her steely ambition and questionable business ethics showed themselves. ‘I played dumb and slowly started getting connections, like where to buy products cheaply. Then I rented my own room and started stealing clients.’Drama QueenShe started going to clubs in London, scouring the club listing directories for the most exclusive clubs. ‘I used to go to ChinaWhite, a celebs only club in the centre of London.’ Her goal, she says unashamedly, was to find rich, white men. ‘I was never an escort, I never charged but I did set out to find a rich boyfriend.’Clearly Monica feels there is a difference between selling herself for the night and selling herself for a life of comfort. She explains that she has always been interested in older, successful, white men. ‘I do not date losers. I consider myself to be a hard working woman, so I don’t want a loser who can’t stimulate me mentally.’Diamond maintains that a report in a free, weekly tabloid newspaper that quoted her as saying ‘Not even these ministers can afford me’ is fabricated.She says that she has never been interviewed by any of their reporters, except for replying to an SMS concerning her breast enlargement surgeries. According to an article on an online newspaper, Expose (namibiansin.exposenewspaper.com), Diamond held a press conference on Facebook on June 21, where she released this statement.’I have never had an interview with informante so please stop giving me unwelcome advises and asking stupid questions. why dont you ask informante they know me better than i know myself .let me live my life.’ [sic]’I don’t know where Informanté got their information from’ she tells me. ‘Maybe their reporters are pressurised to come up with stories and end up making things up. They lied, they said I own an escort agency and that I am encouraging girls into prostitution. I never did that! Bring me one girl who will say so’ she challenged. Informanté’s editor, Max Hamata maintains that they have records of the interviews that were conducted and that Informanté stands by their reporting. There have been rumours that Monica and the reporter in question are actually friends who hang out together but Monica maintains that is not true.The Road AheadAs far as Diamond is concerned, her life will go on, no matter how many people write letters and what they might say about her. ‘I don’t care what anybody thinks. I only think about my future, about building my life.’She claims that she invests in property, a skill she says she learned by watching her English fiancé invest in property. ‘I am a serious businesswoman and a wild entertainer.’ As for her music career, Diamond admits that she is still finding her feet as an entertainer and knows she doesn’t necessarily have the best voice. ‘I am more of a Dancehall Queen, my voice is something different, husky and unique.’ Her risqué stage act is inspired by international female entertainers like Madonna and Janet Jackson, who are known for their sometimes controversial but always sexy music video’s. ‘I don’t even know if I will release an album but I do know that the music video’s will continue. I’ve decided to embrace the image that has been created of me, even though its not the real me, I love the idea of being like Lil Kim, telling everybody out there about a strong woman’s reality.’Diamond’s newest music video, ‘Vitamin’ is due to be released shortly and she promises to give her fans exactly what they expect from her. Behind the MaskHer public persona is in sharp contrast to her daily life. A creature of routine, Monica says she wakes up every morning, cleans her house, goes to the gym, handles some business and cooks. She spends time with her son and enjoys cooking traditional African food like pap, meat, spinach, dried fish and jallof rice. She seems quite lonely as she explains that she doesn’t have many friends. ‘I don’t open up to people easily and I never allow people to know the real me. The only time I escape from my own privacy is when I go out with my brothers. I enjoy going out and getting wild but I am not the type of woman you will see drunk, going home with some random guy. I am too much in control for that.’