Popular South African queer activist and businessman Thami Dish, has responded to the claims that he is allegedly an abuse enabler, following Mohale Motaung's tell-all interview Mohale: On The Recordwith Aldrin Sampear that left tongues wagging last week.
Mohale detailed the alleged abuse he suffered at the hands of his estranged husband, Somizi Mhlongo. He recounted how Somizi allegedly assaulted him after he returned home from a gig in Durban. Apparently, Somizi beat him up so badly that he thought he had broken his ribs.
"I remember he had a bottle of champagne in his hand, and while I was trying to take off the clothes that I was wearing, he started spilling champagne on me. With me trying to find out what was going on he started beating me up and I remember him saying he needs to mess up my face because this beautiful face is messing things up for him and I remember covering my face because the shoes he was wearing were going to damage my face," said Mohale.
"He started hitting me in the ribs and legs and I couldn't walk. I crawled down the stairs at that point I believed my ribs were broken because I couldn't move this part of my body and in doing that, I reached for my car keys and I ran out,” he continued.
According to Mohale, he left the house to seek medical attention from his friend who is a medical doctor who was stationed in Vosloorus. He said Somizi tried to reach out to him to find out where he was. Mohale mentioned Thami Dish a lot because he intervened for the couple to resolve their marital problems and revealed that Somizi and Thami had become enemies.
"Thami said Somizi is sorry and it would never happen again and that I should go back to the house,” he said. However, Thami has come out guns blazing to set the records straight. In a lengthy statement he released via social media, Thami says he was “shocked and dismayed by the inclusion of his name” in the tell-all interview.
The queer activist said he is triggered by claims that he condoned abuse in the relationship after allegedly telling Mohale to go back home after the alleged physical altercation.
"While I would have facilitated a meeting between the two parties at my house after an altercation, It would have been purely for the purposes of having both parties share their side of the story from their perspective: At no point was a suggestion made by myself that Mr Mohale Motaung to a home or a relationship where there was ongoing abuse, and he knows this. That would have been a decision he took outside of my influence," he said in the statement.
Thami says he would have appreciated to be given an opportunity to respond where his name was mentioned. "While I applaud Mohale for speaking up. I would have preferred to be afforded a right of reply in the instances where my name is implicated, especially as an enabler of abuse," read part of the statement.
