Recently, actress Amanda Du Pont took to her social media to finally expose the Uyajola 9/9 TV host Jub Jub for having allegedly assaulted her for two years. The incident has seen many Zalebs across Mzansi take to their social media to support Amanda and others, to rant and call out issues of gender based violence.
One such Zaleb is beauty influencer and Youtube sensation Mihlali Ndamase, who took to her twitter in a thread to expose South Africa’s entertainment industry. According to the influencer, the industry is guilty of supporting rapists and abusers.
She says, “One thing about the entertainment industry in South Africa? They will support rapists and abusers.
For a country that is notorious for its high levels of gender-based violence and rape, you’d think the industry would take such matters seriously and not support/protect these men”
It seems however that this thread has split tweeps into two. For some, they are in full agreement with Mihlali saying that women in South Africa have suffered long enough from issues of gender based violence and that men should stop making the whole issue about them.
For others, as much as what Mihlali is saying may be true, they are still of the opinion that gender based violence is an issue that affects both genders and that Mzansi should stop being biased about it. Gender violence has been made a one sided problem and that needs to change.
There is no denying that tweeps are enraged over this conversation. Many are asking, should they then stop listening to an artist just because they have been accused of assaulting someone? To them, it is unreasonable to cancel out an individual unless proven guilty by the court of law.
Mihlali’s rant has caused quite the stir and many are quite literally silencing her accusations saying that she should stop accusing men alone because women have time and time again lied about being assaulted just so they can end someone else’s career.
If you can recall, earlier this past month, Unathi Nkayi was accused of allegedly lying about being verbally abused by her former colleague, Sizwe Dhlomo during an altercation. The events saw Unathi lose her job, but the incident left a bitter taste for many in Mzansi.
Clearly matters of gender based violence remain to be a sensitive path to tread on and we can only hope that justice will be served to the victims.