Bongekile Simelane, a.k.a Babes Wodumo or the Queen of Gqom, is an award-winning South African musician, choreographer, and dancer.
Since releasing her solo album in 2016, Babes has been all over the news, with her music topping the charts and her relationships hitting both highs and lows.
After dating for one year, Babes tied the knot with her beau- Mampintisha, and began their fairytale romance in 2020, in a beautiful wedding that broke the internet.
Here is everything you need to know about Babes Wodumo’s wedding and her husband.
Who is Babes Wodumo’s husband?
An image of Babes Wodumo and Mampintsha, credit: Babes' Instagram
The man who stole and kept Babes Wodumo’s heart is none other than Mandla Maphumulo, a.k.a Mampintsha.
Like Babes, Mampintsha is a musician too. He also dabbles as a music producer and Babes Wodumo’s manager.
Babes Wodumo met her future husband- Mampintsha, at West Ink Records, where they both worked. The two connected, and they soon dated. The rest, as they say, is history.
Something interesting to note about this couple is that they have an age gap of twelve years. Mampintsha was born in 1982, while Babes Wodumo was born in 1994.
While their relationship and marriage have not been short of controversy, the two lovebirds love showering each other with affection on the internet. Even though some people find it to be cute, others think it’s a bit cringey.
Babes Wodumo and Mampintisha’s engagement
Babes Wodumo and her bae have one of the most beautiful proposal stories ever.
During a live radio interview on Gagasi FM on 29th October 2020, Mampintsha went down on his knee and asked a visibly shocked Babes to marry him.
Mampintsha captured and shared the proposal on his Instagram. In the video, he asked Babes to make him the happiest man alive, adding that they had been together for a long time, and it was time they made things official, to which Babes agreed.
Their engagement happened at a time when the two had been going through a rough patch in their relationship with cases of infidelity and physical violence surrounding them. The announcement, therefore, caught their fans by surprise as nobody expected to hear wedding bells from the two.
Babes Wodumo’s wedding
Babes Wodumo and Mampintsha wedding, credit: Babes' Instagram The couple was dressed in beautiful matching green and gold traditional clothes. Mampintsha had a leopard's tail tied around his head.
In April 2021, Babes Wodumo and Mampintsha exchanged vows in a colourful traditional wedding in Durban. After the wedding, Babes shared pictures of their rings on her Instagram.
Babes Wodumo and Mampintsha showing off their wedding rings, credit: Facebook
Some of the prolific guests that graced the wedding include DJ Tira and DJ Bongz.
While the wedding ceremony was lit by itself, a little drama to spice it up was also available. At the time of the wedding, fans speculated that Babes was pregnant, a claim that Babes chose to ignore.
Apart from that, a video of a woman who was visibly very displeased with the couple’s union emerged. The woman was identified as Mampintsha’s mother, and it appears that she disapproved of Babes Wodumo as his daughter-in-law and was not happy that she had been excluded from the wedding.
Marriage controversies
Even before their wedding, Babes Wodumo and Mampintsha’s relationship was haunted with claims of physical violence, where Babes accused Mampintsha of hitting her.
Another significant controversy in their marriage has been Babes Wodumo’s strained relationship with her mother-in-law.
Besides causing drama before their wedding, Mampintsha’s mother, Zama Gumede, also caused a stir when Babes Wodumo announced her pregnancy. Zama claimed that the pregnancy was fake and that Babes Wodumo had put sponges in her belly.
It appears that since the child was born, the mother and daughter-in-law have made amends to their relationship, and we might not be seeing any drama in the coming days.
