Black Coffee & Enhle split
Mzansi’s golden couple, DJ Black Coffee and Enhle Mbali Mlotshwa, have called it quits after nine years. Where did it go wrong?
THEY seemed to have it all – a happy marriage, beautiful boys, and glittering careers. Nkosinathi Maphumulo, better known as music whizz DJ Black Coffee, and actress Enhle Mbali Mlotshwa were nothing if not an It couple. Doting parents and perfect partners, they dripped #couplegoals wherever they went – whether it was rubbing shoulders with Hollywood royalty or slaying red carpets in SA.
Black Coffee (43) and Enhle (31) were without a doubt Mzansi’s golden couple.
It seemed nothing could shake them – not even the rumours of infidelity that had long dogged the couple. Yes, they had their ups and downs, but the popular pair stood firm in the face of hardships, with both parties maintaining a dignified silence.
Then Enhle dropped a bombshell on Instagram.
She’d woken up to a tabloid story of her pending separation and posted a video in response. “The situation that is happening right now in my life, is indeed happening,” she said.
Enhle has asked for privacy while she picks up the pieces of her life, and Black Coffee has refused to comment.
But a friend close to the couple who spoke on condition of anonymity says Enhle “has had enough of the infidelity”.
We look at their path, once paved with love, and now riddled with potholes of pain.
6 SHOCK REVEAL
Enhle had hoped to keep the details of their split private, but the Sunday World reported that the couple’s breakup had been set out in a court application.
According to media reports, she filed for a protection order against Black Coffee’s sister, Nomalanga Maphumulo, after allegations of verbal and emotional abuse. Nomalanga is allegedly protecting Black Coffee and his assets from Enhle.
7 THE WAY FORWARD
Ending a marriage can be one of the most stressful transitions in life, says organisational psychologist and marriage coach Paul Nyamuda. “When a married couple comes to this decision, they tend to blame each other or find themselves in denial about what could have led to it,” he says.
Parting ways can be messy, but respect and clarity go a long way. “It’s a life-altering reality and is often clouded with negativity, but once they embrace this reality it will be a much more bearable experience.”
5 THE BEGINNING OF THE END
Cracks started to show earlier this year when Enhle removed all traces of her husband on social media. She changed her surname from Maphumulo back to her maiden surname, Mlotshwa, sparking rumours there was trouble in paradise. Then came reports that Black Coffee had cheated with French socialite Cathy Guetta, who was previously married to David Guetta, after a video of the two sharing a hug at the Cannes Film Festival went viral. Black Coffee was quick to shut down the rumour mill. “It’s quite sad that on social media people are so quick to confidently vilify and lynch people without a shred of evidence ITO (in terms of) wrongdoing,” he wrote on Twitter. “For the Record: Cathy Guetta is nothing more than a business partner and shall remain so for the foreseeable future.”
‘The conversation was on fleek and I loved it’
4 SOLO STARS
Enhle got her big break when she was cast in the leading role on Tshisa in 2010. She’s since gone on to star in a string of TV shows but she’s also a businesswoman with big dreams. “I have my own career and I don’t live in my husband’s shadow,” she told us.
After struggling to find clothes that fit her properly during her second pregnancy, Enhle started her own line of maternity wear, SE Preggoz. The line was launched in New York as well as South Africa. She keeps slaying in the style stakes: she collaborated with design duo
Quiteria & George to dress Beyoncé for last year’s inaugural Global Citizen Festival.
Enhle held down the fort while her jet-setting ex impressed on a global stage. The internationally acclaimed, award-winning DJ has carved a stellar international career working with artists such as John Legend, Alicia Keys, David Guetta and Usher.
3 BLENDED FAMILY
In 2011 the couple had their first child together, Anesu (8), followed by Asante (4). Enhle, Black Coffee said, was a brilliant mom to their two sons, and Lilitha and Esona, the children he had from a previous relationship. “She’s everything I ever wanted, you know, as a partner,” he told our sister publication Drum in a previous interview.
“She’s a wonderful mother. What’s more, she’s a great wife. She’s a great sister to my sisters and the rest of my family.”
2 TWO BECOME ONE
They tied the knot in a traditional wedding ceremony at Mbali’s home in Soweto in 2011, choosing to make money before splurging on the white wedding of their dreams. “Throughout those years, we bought property, sold property, we bought land, sold land,” she said.
In 2017 the couple said their I dos in a fairytale wedding planned by Generations star and wedding planner extraordinaire Sophie Lichaba. Held at Sun City, it was a star-studded affair with EFF leader Julius Malema, transport minister Fikile Mbalula and former home affairs minister Malusi Gigaba all on the guest list.
The bride wore a stunning Gert-Johan Coetzee gown and the groom was dapper in a cream-and-navy suit.
1 LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT
They met in 2010 on the set of Tshisa, the SABC drama series Enhle was starring in at the time. He was visiting the set and asked her out for a drink. She declined because she was dating someone at the time.
But they kept in touch and later went on a date. “We stopped at a Woolworths because all the restaurants were closed and I was breaking all my rules because I always wanted to be taken out to a restaurant for a date,” Enhle told Anele Mdoda in an interview. “The conversation was on fleek and I loved it,” she added.
Three months later he proposed in Greece and she accepted – much to the delight of their family, friends, fans, and everyone who believes in romance.