“People think I’m pompous, some say he is arrogant, but I’m the coolest guy ever. I like finer things in life,” is how the late socialite and businessman Genius “Ginimbi” Kadungure described himself in a nutshell.
And indeed, he was the coolest guy ever as he was all about celebrating life and spreading good vibes, often cheering people up with his hilarious videos.
Ginimbi, a guy who was undoubtedly most young people’s dream as he had his things in order, driving fancy cars, flying first class, owning a mansion, affording expensive designer clothes and drinking champagne like water, was sadly involved in a fatal car accident on his way to his Domboshava home last Sunday. He was coming from clubbing and died moments after, together with three of his friends.
What a sad ending to a colourful life this was.
Following his death, social media was abuzz this past week with some asking who this Ginimbi person was.
Well, there were two sides to him. There was Genius Kadungure the businessman who had interests in energy (gas and diesel) and Ginimbi, a rich socialite and party freak who lived his life to the fullest.
“When I’m partying, I’ll be a party animal so that’s where people get a wrong feeling that I’m a drug dealer because I party like one. Wherever I am, I make things happen so some people will hate me for that — partying with the right people and beautiful girls. What excites me is seeing people happy, dancing, shaking their bodies and drinking,” the late said in a previous interview.
Just like he explained, most of us were exposed to Ginimbi and the closest we ever got to Genius was through his posts in the mornings where he would be dressed in formal wear with a brief case in hand ready for his business meetings. That’s all he ever shared about Genius.
This explains why his love life, in which businesswoman Zodwa Mnkandla was once part of, was always a mystery.
This sort of information belonged to the world of Genius which was not for consumption by fans of Ginimbi.
But after hours, likely after sealing deals of millions of dollars, the personality would open his Domboshava mansion Versace doors and let us all into the life of Ginimbi through his live videos on Instagram.
On these videos which he conducted religiously almost daily, the man who made it a point to live his life to the fullest, would keep people entertained through his interactions with mostly girls. It always had to be beautiful girls as he often put a disclaimer requesting for only beautiful girls to call him. It is through these conversations on the show that he simply named My Life your TV that he grew his fan base as people would tune in for laughs as the comment section was always on fire.
It was such a nice way to end a hectic day.
As the shows grew in popularity, during the lockdown, he introduced a twerking show, where ladies took part in a dance off competition for a hefty prize money of R40 000. Some bashed him saying he had misplaced priorities but he simply said the shows were meant to keep people entertained during the lockdown.
At one point, he even brought in a voluptuous stripper, Cici Amor from America and her friends just to hang out with them at his Domboshava mansion and party at his Dreams nightclub in Harare. This was Ginimbi. He liked his women curvaceous and did rare things that often courted controversy, but at the end, he was all about positive vibes and fun.
It is from this Instagram page which had over 500 000 followers that people took an interest in his nightclub Sankayi (now Dreams) as they wanted to interact closely with the guy that often flaunted his top-of-the-range vehicles on social media.
Since Ginimbi loved the good life, he naturally attracted alike people so the club attracted high rollers from different parts of the continent. It was one of the first clubs in the country to introduce the champagne lifestyle and champagne showers (the act of shaking up champagne bottles and popping them), an activity Ginimbi loved the most. This gave the club international standards.
He managed to put the country on the map through these extravagant parties which he hosted in Botswana, South Africa and most recently, Zimbabwe last month. Some years back, he hosted the exclusive party on a yacht leaving many amused. So big were the parties that at one point, one of the world’s largest champagne producers, Moët et Chandon sponsored his party in South Africa.
These parties often attracted notable people from different countries, trending here and neighbouring South Africa. Ginimbi’s fleet of cars together with his friends’ would always steal the limelight as well.
For a long time, local music promoters wanted to bring Davido to the country but for some reason, he was dodging them. Just one call to the Nigerian by Ginimbi changed all of this and within weeks, he was in Zimbabwe. That’s how much respect he commanded in the entertainment industry. He definitely put the country’s showbiz scene on the spotlight as these shows made it onto internationally recognised Trace tv, making it a first for Zimbabwe.
Realising the power he had in showbiz circles and his network, he set up an entertainment company, G Entertainment, which he used to promote stars like DJ Tira, Fally Ipupa and SA’s Boity Thulo. Many had hoped to witness more shows but unfortunately the Covid-19 pandemic kicked in.
But this did not kill the fun as Dreams was still the place to be. It was the hub of the rich and famous. It was impossible to patronise the joint and not bump into at least five notable faces. Like its name, Dreams was all a fantasy. That’s how Ginimbi lived his life. It was one where he pushed good vibes only, forgetting about the everyday struggles.
Entertainment was in his veins. Wherever he was, one knew that at any time, a party could go down. The best linkups were in his hotel rooms no doubt.
Like in Victoria Falls last year where he attended the carnival. His Presidential suite — the Livingstone Suite at the Victoria Falls Hotel which had a vast lounge turned into a party central as his friends convened there and started having drinks while catching up. It was like a pre-party for the carnival.
Speaking of hotels. Ginimbi was likely the only person in Zimbabwe whose cars were allowed to park at hotel entrances and even spend the night there blocking other traffic.
Usually, only the President enjoys this benefit, but Boss G as some called him, enjoyed this privilege. Rainbow Hotel Harare and Bulawayo and Kingdom Hotel all let him park at their highly secured entrance points with no pressure. Was it because his cars were a marvel to watch or was it his relations with the hotels? Only they would know.
Still on his cars. Ginimbi loved powerful cars. Horse power, he loved saying. And he was very particular about the way he would pull up at events.
If he was rocking up with his boys, which was usually the case, he would first personally line up the vehicles, likely ensuring the most current/expensive ones were in front.
Petty it seemed, but for him, this was very important, evidenced by the way he would sternly task his security details to remove “small” cars from his convoy as his boys all had big cars. It only made sense after he posted a video of the convoy on his Instagram fan page.
Wow, this guy really lived for the gram (Instagram). The things he would do for likes.
Dressing was another critical thing in Ginimbi’s life. He was very particular and those around him always felt the heat. Scan his Instagram page and see how smartly dressed he always was.
From Versace which was his favourite to Dolce & Gabbana which he seemed to have been fond of in his last days to Gucci, Christian Louboutin, Dsquared and Louis Vuitton, Ginimbi had them all. Even when having breakfast, he’d be in a Dolce & Gabbana robe and matching morning shoes.
“Dressing is a way of life,” Ginimbi used to say.
“If you look at my male friends, they know how to dress. They take their time. Even the girls that hang around us, they’re not just girls,” he said showing how particular he was about the issue of dressing.
For his All White party two years ago, he unashamedly told Star FM presenters Phathisani and KVG that he did not invite them because they couldn’t afford the designer clothes he wanted his guests to wear.
“You can’t afford new clothes. When I prepare my invitations, I scan the list of people to see who can afford to buy new clothes before sending them out and you two didn’t qualify,” Ginimbi told them.
He went on to tell them that they could only afford to buy cheap clothes from stores like Edgars which were not good enough for his All White parties.
Hear this from me, the guy was not being impossible. I made it to one of his All White parties that was in the form of a boat party last year and yup, it was not easy coming up with an outfit, especially the shoes. And even when I did, I could just tell it was way below standard because here I was clad in R300 Mr Price clothes with guests there in at least R30 000 designer clothes.
Anything that earned him attention, Ginimbi was in. Hearing fans scream “Ginimbi” or “mdhara” as he drove his Ferrari made his day. That’s the only reason he visited Bulawayo and had the Ferrari ferried to the city so that he could enjoy the attention while driving around. He was also proud of his name, Ginimbi. You could feel it each time he introduced himself to audiences online. This was certainly a man who was proud of himself and his Ginimbi brand.
Although he loved attention, he was a great listener. Each time people would engage him, he would listen attentively.
He seemed to have great love for his inner circle. It was clear these were friends who became family. The likes of his sidekicks, South Africa-based Kit Kat and locally-based Tinotenda “DJ Rimo” Marimo, Tazvi “Chief J” Mhaka, Hedley “Papiichulo” Mobbs and Patrick Chimpa were always with him and you could tell he was at home when in their company. Pokello Nare was another favourite of his as well as Danielle Allen.
“If you see Rimo, you’ll have seen me. We’re one unit,” Ginimbi told me during his visit here last month.
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| Ginimbi Worked Hard, Built His Dream House, Drove Posh Cars, Created His Own Happy Life! |
Did I mention that Ginimbi, one of the country’s influencers, was the best hype man. Ask socialites Pokello Nare and model Tanya Chikuni. Ginimbi was very good at hyping people/their products up as he had a way of marketing things and convincing people.
No two ways, he was behind the success of the Positive Vibes Only (PVO) fashion label and Ric Chaser’s wear, brands he popularised whole heartedly. Before his demise, he was hyping up up-and-coming content creator Sir Clatter. He also assisted local artistes with the recording of their music videos by permitting them to record their videos at his mansion, likely free of charge.
But in all of this, Ginimbi had haters and he knew it. As such, he was never comfortable and consistently checked his surroundings. His crew seemed to know this about him. I remember the look I got from Papiichullo in Vic Falls at the hotel, it was clear he could sense an intruder had infiltrated their space but after a couple of outings, he got to appreciate my relationship with G.
I still cannot believe this is the end of such a colourful life that kept many entertained. Ginimbi, they don’t come as real as you anymore. You were too big for Zimbabwe, we were never ready to embrace you. Thanks for trusting me and allowing me to experience Ginimbi. Go well my guy.
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