FACT: Friends come and go!

I have come to learn that the phrase “friends come and go” was not just meant for sayings sake.

In this life including my own this phrase has proven to be true as we have seen the failures of many supposed close friendships make the headlines and then we see them just plonk down the drain.

Take for instance the most publicised friendship of hotel heiress Paris Hilton and daughter of soul singer Lionel Ritchie, Nicole Ritchie that was the buzz of the entertainment industry early 2000s.  They photographed everywhere, seen at most exclusive parties, and even shot a reality TV show The Simple Life – all together. At some point they did outrageously silly things like share a boyfriend, wear the same outfits and share undies.

But one thing separated the two blondes from being the stupidest best of friends to becoming the biggest foes Hollywood has ever seen? How that happened still bugs me, because if it was about a man, about wealth, clothes and who was friendlier than whom, then they clearly were not true friends.

The most impacting and really profound example that jumped into my mind is that of the two ANC men Jacob Zuma and Thabo Mbeki, I heard this for the first time that they “were so close they were almost like brothers  during apartheid”  as said by Zuma, in the doccy Behind The Rainbow. Here we see them get separated by the yearn and greed of power, that has now led the country in disarray because they can’t seem to share the power.

Then there are our dear schlebs, remember TKZee fellas Kabelo, Tokollo and Zwai? There was never a moment when their friendship was never rubbed in our faces in the 90s. Sure they were a band together but man were they close off the stage too, they wore the same Dickies label, hung out in the same clubs and at some point all dated models. Now, they are like water and oil, the other married and a daddy, the other an acquitted drunk driver and the other a recovered druggie.  They even failed to make their performance at the Metros last year believable because of their drift.

Then there was the friendship supposed friendship of Khanyi Mbau and the gay Amstel. I was rather shocked to see how the queen of “bling” mocked and ridiculed her friend’s lifestyle, choice of men and clothes, simply labelling him as “cheap” all on national TV- on the boring 3Talk show. That to me did not even qualify as a friendship, but hey the two still hang out, obviously someone was forgiven.

Another is that of British pop stars Spice Girls remember them? They were the ladies that hit me in my teens with songs such as Tell me what you want and Mama I love you. What happened to the girl power friendship that had me wanting to form a girl band in my teens? Where is Mel C, Emma and XXX. All we are bombarded with is Victoria Beckham and Mel B’s scandalous baby momma issues and ish that we lost track why the ladies became famous in the first place. That was one friendship that created many friendships in the world. Man, were they all convincing.

Those are just few examples that I could think of but weren’t they all just classic cases of friendships gone all wrong. But to flip the coin here are some great examples of great friendships.

• ·   Destinys Child members  Beyonce, Kelly and Michelle remain best friends despite their differences and solo careers that they have started.
  
• ·   Look at richest woman of the world Oprah and her most talked about best friend Gayle, they are seem to manage pretty well despite being financial different.
  
• There is the mish-mash of a friendship brewing between Kelly Khumalo and Lucia Mthiyane, they seem really close despite their age difference.
  

It’s a hard fact to acknowledge but hey, “Friends come and Go!”