South African singer Mandla Maphumulo was yesterday arrested and charged after allegedly assaulting his girlfriend on Instagram live images.
Babes Wodumo
In a subsequently deleted clips from her Instagram profile, his pop-star lover Babes Wodumo broadcasted live images on Instagram of him assaulting her.
Following public outcry, Mandla handed himself to the police in the Pinetown, a town on the outskirts of the southeastern city of Durban.
Maphumulo, who is better known as “Mampintsha,” was charged with assault and taken to Pinetown Magistrate’s Court where he was granted $140 bail and ordered to return on May 15.
After his court appearance, Maphumulo apologized and told journalists that he was sorry for hitting Wodumo.
He said:
I HAD BEEN ACTING IN SELF-DEFENSE AFTER SHE FIRST ASSAULTED ME FIRST.
The singer and his girlfriend Babes
He added that:
I HAVE BEEN ENDURING VIOLENCE FROM HER.
The 24-year-old Wodumo, whose real name is Bongekile Simelane, is a celebrated performer of gqom music that blends traditional African sounds with house music.
Maphumolo is a kwaito musician — a South African genre that bears similarity to hip-hop and has featured on hit movie Black Panther soundtrack.
South Africa has among the highest rates of gender-based violence globally and the 38-second clip sparked a backlash from authorities, politicians and on social media.
It is one of a spate of attacks against women that has sparked outrage in the country over the last two years. The murder of 22-year-old Karabo Mokoena by her ex-boyfriend shocked the country in 2017, with women using the hashtag #MenAreTrash.
A 2018 report by Statistics South Africa found that 7.7% of men and 6.8% of women thought it was acceptable for a husband to hit his wife if she argued with him.
