Bad grammar, bad boyfriend memoir
BLACK Bird Books has taken responsibility for the grammatical errors in media personality Bonang Matheba’s first memoir, Bonang: From A to B.
Matheba launched her book at Sandton City’s Diamond Walk on Thursday night to much fanfare, but was soon overshadowed when it emerged that the book was riddled with typographical errors.
The book was published by Black Bird Books with Jacana Media.
“We do acknowledge that there are a few typographical errors in the book, which are regrettable,” a statement by Black Bird Books read.
“As publishers of ‘black stories’, one of our most important missions is to protect the author’s voice and to keep the story as authentic as possible. It was with this in mind that when we started working with Bonang on this project. We wanted to ensure that Bonang’s voice landed as truthfully as possible, hence the direction and conversational nature of the read,” Black Bird Books said.
Twitter users posted extracts from the book which contained grammatical errors.some went on to highlight the mistakes in red.
Using the hashtag #Tweetlikebonang one user @Murendenimudau1 said: “When you just want people to understand that you are Queen B, not a spelling Bee #Fromatob #Tweetlike Bonang”
Those who have read
it say that it is a disappointing read.
Bonang has yet to comment on the saga.
In the book, the television presenter writes about her personal experience of abuse.
“First you will be called a liar. Fewer than 10% of reports of abuse are fake. And yet for some reason people still think there is some benefit for women to lie about abuse when in fact all there is more awfulness.”
In 2012, Matheba opened a case of assault against her ex DJ Euphonik, after an alleged physical altercation at his home. In response to the book, the former 5 FM DJ, tweeted: “Let me take drugs. Cry wolf. Accuse and lie about some people. Believe my own lies. Wreck some homes, take more drugs then write a book.” Lawyer William Booth said Matheba could sue Euphonik over the tweets even though her name was not mentioned. “If somebody posts a comment about another person’s conduct or character and it is not correct then the person is entitled to apply to court for an injunction or a restraining order against the person posting the information,” Booth said. Euphonik, said during an interview with Anele last year: “She has no dirt on me because I have played it very cleverly, but I have a lot of dirt on her, definitely. I’m just saying.” Matheba also revealed in her book that she ended her friendship with Somizi Mhlongo due to the fact that he befriended Euphonik. “It took me a while to eventually leave that relationship and, years after I had, Somizi Mhlongo, who was my friend, suddenly became friends with my ex. The same one whose violence towards me he had witnessed. That’s when I knew he had to go.”