The art of falling in love through hashtag#

By Funeka Bambalele

If you don’t know Umjolo with Azolo, I have one question for you, where have you been? 

This is one of Mzansi’s most popular matchmaking hashtags# that has been trending on X App for the past six years and it has hooked up many singles. Others found their Mr and Ms Right and eventually got married. 

The hashtag is just proof that people are spending most of their time at work and hardly socialise which is why hundreds of educated men and women are single. Apart from a lack of socialisation, it looks like men have lost interest in courting women or iscamtho asikho. 

It is such situations that inspired Azola Mlota, a father, a husband and an academic who is based in Bloemfontein to start a dating hashtag on the social platform Twitter which is now known as X. 

What started as a small experiment trying to understand why people are single has really grown to create a name for Mlota who is now known as Dr Love. 

That is not all. It has elevated him to be regarded as  an expert in matters of the heart and even opened a big opportunity for his wife who is now on radio. 

 With #Umjolo with Azola, single ladies and men post their photographs on X and share their age, name and where they live with the aim to catch someone’s eye. Interested candidates normally get in touch with love interest through X app or other social media connections.

Sometimes Mlota hosts X App Spaces with his wife Seipati where people still use the platform to hook up with ideal partners. 

Though Mlota has many successful stories to share there are those who get played in the process. 

Speaking to City Life Arts, Mlota says he finds himself being blamed for those incidents. 

“Some people get catfished in these social media streets. A person usually takes information and images, typically from other people, and uses it to create a new identity for themselves. When the candidate arrives or meets them, he or she discovers that this is totally different from what was in the picture. Some people become victims of smash and go where after having sex, the guy disappears. Meaning, he was never in it for love.”

He adds, “So, people come back and blame me. But I have 80 percent success stories. People are getting married and some even have kids through #Umjolo with Azola. For me it is all about serving people, I am just a messenger. When I see these success stories, I realise that this is a calling for me.”

Mlota points out that since the inception of the dating hashtag, it has become popular and increased his following on X-App. When Mlota began in 2018, he only had 400 followers. Within three months the following increased into 100 000 on X. 

When he hosts spaces, he is mostly assisted by his wife Seipati Mlota and Sobahle Mkhwanazi. Through the popularity of the hashtag Seipati landed a co-hosting job at Motsweding Fm.

She co-hosts a show called Tsadi Ka Mano with Onalenna Kotane on Tuesday and Thursday at 1am. 

The show is aired on Monday and Thursday at 1am and it is all about love and adult stuff. Seipati who comes from the property development industry co-hosts the show with Onalenna Kotane. Since she started co-hosting the show, she has noticed that there is a lack of love among human beings in general.

“What started on social media has opened an opportunity for me to grow and learn more on this love and dating subject. I’m grateful for the opportunity that came with it. I never thought that one day I would be on the radio. But thanks to uMjolo with Azola.”

“The show is a blast and people love it. Listeners both young and old call in and some send their message through DM. During the show, we allow the public to give advice to those who need it, ask questions and share knowledge. Since people show interest, I would like to take this to a TV or podcast platform.”

“I’m thinking of something that looks like All You Need is Love but it should give advice to people. One thing that I have noticed is that there is a high number of cheatings from both women and men.”

Born in Elliot in the Eastern Cape, Dr Love joined X app like everyone to share general information. But he quickly realised that people love whatever he posted. One of the guys suggested he capitalise on the situation. It was in 2018 that he started the match making hashtag after being bombarded by messages in his DM (direct Message) with people wanting him to hook them up.