Mbau calls Twitter ‘horrible’

Media personality, daughter, 13, bullied

MEDIA personality Khanyi Mbau and her 13-year-old daughter have become the latest victims of cyber bullying at a time when the country is observing 16 Days of Activism against Women and Child Abuse.

Cyber bullies descended on Mbau and her daughter with some very inappropriate and sexually explicit messages directed at the 13-year-old.

Although very private about her personal life, Mbau posted a picture on Twitter and Instagram of herself and her daughter, who was wearing a school uniform at what seemed to be a school prizegiving event.

“As a single mom, you have made the journey absolutely worth it, thank you for being such an incredible daughter, walking this journey with you and your understanding is incredible. Congratulations on your academic achievements. I love you Makhanz,” Mbau captioned the picture.

The post attracted attention as there have only been a few images of Mbau’s daughter on her social media accounts.

The picture has over 700 comments.

Although there were some congratulatory messages, they were also quite a lot graphic and offensive comments.

Some men, in particular, were sexualising the picture, leaving disturbing and inappropriate comments that are not fit for a 13-year-old.

The single mother added that she did not remove any of the comments but they were reported by fans and later removed by Twitter.

“I haven’t posted anyone but myself on my social media accounts. I regret nothing, besides this was a tribute to my daughter – not a convo,” she told The Star.

“My daughter is not affected by this because she doesn’t have Twitter, and she also understands what the world is like now,” said the actress, television host and artist.

Studies have shown that South Africa has one of the highest cyber bullying cases in Africa.

Media Monitoring Africa director William Bird said people tend to pass personal comments that are rude or inappropriate and that is one of the core challenges of social media that need to be addressed and reported.

Mbau had no kind words for Twitter after her experience.

“Twitter is a horrible place, period,” she said. |

I haven’t posted anyone but myself on my social media accounts Khanyi Mbau MEDIA PERSONALITY