Football star Thembinkosi Lorch in the early hours of Monday morning was arrested after he allegedly beat up his girlfriend.
Read more: Twitter Reacts To Dj Maphorisa's Lorch Music Video
Read more: Twitter Reacts To Dj Maphorisa's Lorch Music Video
His girlfriend Nokhupiwa Mathithibala is said to have opened a case of assault against the Orlando Pirates midfielder at Midrand Police Station following an incident that occurred at the Lorch's residence in Midrand.
Lorch on Monday appeared in the Midrand Magistrates Court on a charge of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
He was released on R2000 bail and is set to be back in court on 18 October 2020.
The South African Police Service’s Kay Makhubela confirmed to Sunday World in a statement that the Bafana Bafana soccer star had been arrested.
“Police in the early hours of Monday morning, 07 September 2020 arrested a 27-year old man for allegedly assaulting a woman at his place of residence in Midrand. It is reported that the suspect physically assaulted the complainant after a verbal exchange between the two, and the victim was allegedly rescued by the suspect's friend who was present at the time of the incident that is related to domestic,” read the police’s statement.
According to Mathithibala's statement, seen by Sunday World, Lorch became angry after she asked him about his whereabouts after leaving her at his house for six hours.
The soccer player is said to have slapped Mathithibala and then strangled her, sitting on her whilst she laid on the ground.
"We have been seeing that all isn’t well in the relationship of this couple and we have now decided that enough is enough because the woman is severely injured,” a source told Soccer Laduma.
Lorch is well known for his moves on the soccer field and at the at the 2018/19 PSL Awards won the PSL Player’s Player of the Season Award and the Footballer of the Season Award. In August, Lorch was excluded from a Pirates game after he was found to have breached the "team's protocols".
"Thembinkosi Lorch and Justin Shonga have been excluded from the squad that reported for the BSE bubble on Sunday following a breach of the team's protocols," read a statement from the club.
Lorch is also popular because of DJ Maphorisa and Kabza De Small’s hit song named after him Lorch.
The alleged assault incident has sparked quite the conversation on social media as it comes at a time when the gender-based violence is once again at its peak in the country following the death of actress 34-year-old Thandeka Mdeliswa, who was popularly known for her role on local television drama iKani.
According to a statement by her family her shooting was "another incident of violence against women (Gender Based Violence) which our country has to fight against.