The entertainment industry is not for the faint hearted, you can be up today and be down tomorrow. One person who has risen above it all and continues to stand tall is Zola.
Bonginkosi Dlamini better known as Zola has made a great impact in the lives of many people. If he did not inspire you to go for your dreams through his rise to fame then he surely inspired you through his contribution in making the dreams of other South Africans come true.
We can never forget how he used to keep us on the edge of our seats as he nailed the character Papa Action on the second season of SABC1 drama series Yizo Yizo.
His musical offering...talk about masterpiece! Ibutho, Umdlwembe, and Khokhovula, all his albums had killer tracks, you could tell that passion for this craft is all that he has.
Zola featured Unathi in his song Sana Lwami, we still remember the two stars performing the song on Jam Alley years ago, they also reunited in last year's Idols SA finale and it felt like we were re-living that memorable Jam Alley performance from back then.
Can we please have a repeat of Zola's reality show Zola 7?
How he used to make dreams come true in just three days should not be overlooked, that show needs to be aired for generations to come as proof that anything is possible if you put your mind and heart to it. The show aired on SABC 1 from 2002 to 2010.
And of course, eTV also brought us another reality show about Zola called Rolling With Zola.
The show gave us a peek into the daily activities of one of South Africa's biggest Kwaito stars.
Zola experienced some downhill moments in the entertainment industry, he disappeared for a while from the limelight but came back with vengeance.
In 2015 we saw Zola appearing on Ayeye as Isaac and later in the same year he made an appearance in Mzansi Magic's Isibaya.
Clearly, 2015 was Zola's year because he also hosted Utatakho, Mzansi Magic's reality series which is all about helping resolve paternity issues through DNA testing.
We will always appreciate Zola and we hope he will not stop living his passion for music and television.
Image Credit: Instagram @realzola.7