Entertainer Zodwa Wabantu feels like she has become a pawn in a fight between Zambian authorities and her promoters in the country, after she was deported from the neighbouring nation early on Saturday morning.


Zodwa told TshisaLIVE she arrived in Zambia late on Friday night ahead of a scheduled performance in the country on Saturday evening.
She was stopped by immigration authorities and escorted to a hotel with no real explanation about what was happening.

"They stopped me at the airport and said I couldn't perform. They didn't give me any reasons. I think our promoters were also in the dark. I didn't even leave the hotel."



Zodwa said a fight ensued between her promoters and Zambian authorities, and after hours of discussion, she was told she would be put on the first flight back to South Africa.



According to Reuters, the reason for her deportation was over concerns about Christian morality and fears that her performance would “undermine national values”.



Zodwa said she was not angry with Zambian authorities and hoped to return to the country soon.



"Leave them to fight, I will be back when they are ready to have me. There was so much fighting between them. I am just an entertainer who was invited to perform. I was stuck in the middle of it all. I would love to still perform in Zambia in the future."




Earlier this week Zodwa told TshisaLIVE that she would go ahead with plans to perform in the country, despite suggestions that she would not be welcome by authorities over her decision to not wear underwear while performing.



"I think that people are just trying to sabotage me and the event. The underwear thing is my choice and I don't understand why people are so upset. There are Christians who do much worse things behind closed doors."



She said that authorities were hoping to pray for her and cast out her "demons" while she was in the country.



"I will never wear a p@nty. I won't change who I am for them. Maybe they think they will pray for me or make me better. I survived 2017 and I will survive this year. They can go and f**k off if they have a problem with it."