PICTURE: INSTAGRAM/ CYAN BOUJEE
Content creator and social media influencer Honour Zuma, popularly known as Cyan Boujee, broke her silence amid the uproar caused by her promoting a Russian employment programme.
Cyan has recently issued an apology which went viral on social media platforms. This is after she shared a video clip of her promoting the Alabuga Start programme in Russia for females aged 18-22.
In the video that is now deleted from her account, she described the two-year Start programme for young women who want to acquire professional skills. After video clips of several influencers went viral, the South African government issued a warning to young women to not fall for social media recruitment drives promoting job opportunities abroad.
Recently, Cyan found her tongue and shared how she was recruited , highlighting that she kept quiet because she was hoping that the Russian company would issue a statement, and clear their names.
“I’ve been quiet because I’ve been waiting for the programme to release a statement on my behalf but it seems they are wasting my time. Human trafficking is a serious matter and I do not stand with that and I believe this is a huge learning curve for me and the other influencers.
“And I don’t think anyone with sense would repeat something like this but I want you guys to know it wasn’t for money because I haven’t been paid yet. I had four more videos to post on my YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and I was only going to get paid after posting, so it wasn’t for money. We are humans and we make mistakes. I think the positive out of this is the girls will be helped. That is the main thing. I’m frustrated by this,” she said.
@ndabat #NDABANEWS: CYAN BOUJEE APOLOGISES AMID PROBE INTO CONTROVERSIAL RUSSIAN JOB PROGRAM PRETORIA – Social media influencer #CyanBoujee ♬ original sound – NDABANEWS
Another social media influencer, Aya Langa who was in hot water following her promotional video, also apologised highlighting that she did not know the plot behind this campaign.
@ayaa.langaI’d just like to sincerely apologies for everything that is going on, also apologize to those that got the influence to apply from me. I don’t think none of us would have wanted to partake in such a campaign if we had known about the plot behind it, I personally wouldn’t want to involve myself in such a campaign because I would never want to be isizathu sezinyembezi zomunye umuntu, someone’s pain let alone someone’s death. I don’t think any of us knew about the plot behind it. Some even went to Russia to the actual place that was being spoken about and apparently kids were actually happy to be there, they seemed safe, nothing dodgy or sketchy about it So for me it was even easier to agree to it, not knowing about the plot behind it, but what I know for sure is, I would never want to involve myself in such situations where people’s live are put to risk Again, I sincerely apologize🙏🏽🙏🏽♬ original sound – Aya Langa
@nobhadi123 I’m closing the comments so y’all can actually attend to these people coz at this point y’all are quiet @.PinkFur @Siyamthanda Anita @cyan.boujee @S.eemah_ #cyanboujee #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp #alabugastart #southafrica #russia ♬ original sound – trustmeimweird_ree