Celebs speak out against their abusers
TIRED of being silenced on genderbased violence, South African celebrities are speaking out.
Award-winning actress and businesswoman Enhle Mbali Mlotshwa recently took to social media to call out her abuser.
In a four-and-half-minute video posted by Mlotshwa on her Instagram page, she revealed she had been “harassed” and “intimidated” for some time and does not feel safe due to her not being granted a protection order.
The emotional Rockville actress added: “This man lied in the court of law. He said he went under my arm, as tall as he is, when he knows very well, he hit me. He struck my hand twice and pushed me into our marital property. I don’t feel safe as he is also physiologically messing with my children, which is why I have to stand up and fight for myself.” She said this was the last time she would be silenced for any reason but her own and informed media that she would be doing a press conference to open up about her abuse. “In that conference I will bring evidence, text messages, absolutely everything that was lied about,” she said.
Mlotshwa received tons of support from industry friends including Jessica Nkosi, Gail Mabalane and Busiswa Gqulu, as well as her fans.
Black Coffee responded to Enhle’s video: “In April I tweeted that I did not, and would not assault Mbali. I did this to set the record straight in order to correct the narrative that is out there. I thereafter chose to remain silent about issues as I had faith and trust in the judicial system.
“Following the proceedings, the court has ruled in my favour. The interim protection order was set aside and her case dismissed.”
Another tweet that had social media buzzing was that of Mohale Motaung. He tweeted: “Abusers are making it look like you are the crazy one when they know exactly what they do to you behind closed doors”.
Tweeps jumped on Motaung’s tweet, asking if Somizi ever abused him or if he was speaking from others’ experiences.
The issue of domestic violence continued to dominate after images and videos of AKA and the late Nelli Tembe’s toxic relationship were leaked online.
The first video was of Tembe who could be seen screaming and crying while a man tried to calm her down.
The second video was of AKA filming the destruction in his house. He also films Tembe sitting on the side of the bed, in a panicked state and crying.
The Fela in Versace star, preemptively dropped a statement on Saturday, ahead of the reports on Sunday, where he said: “I am fully aware of who the sources engaging media are and what their intention is, which is to influence the SAPS inquest, which the investigating officer has stated numerous times to my legal team and to them, that I Kiernan Jarryd Forbes, have not been named to be a suspect, but have been nothing but a co-operating witness.”
“Every story has two sides and so does every video, image and message.”