Following her domestic violence case, Babes Wodumo became the talk of social media. The musician received a great amount of criticism and sympathy from millions of citizens. It wasn’t long until she dropped the case against her boyfriend.
She's a superstar who came into the music industry with nothing, but hunger to succeed as a creative and an artist. Babes Wodumo has gained numerous fans following her international features and performing throughout the African continent.
Growing up, she always wanted to become a global superstar as a dancer. Dreams do come true - and Babes surely works hard towards achieving her ultimate dreams.
Here's her biography and her rise to fame.
Babes Wodumo Exclusive Interview
From her tumultuous relationship with Mampintsha, to her social media accounts hacked and being accused of taking cocaine, Babes still manages to keep her head up high and mize the negative energy.
Speaking to ZAlebs, she says God helps her to conquer all the storms she may encounter. Babes talks about how she has managed to rise again after her dramatic 2019 she says.
"It has never been easy but I have a good relationship with God. I tell him everything and he listens to me."
On her latest album, 'Idandokazi' fans were not impressed with Mampintsha being featured on 13 songs, and they felt like he was trying to steal Babes Wodumo's shine. However, Babes said she enjoyed making music with Mampitsha.
Tha held an emotional Instagram Live interview with Babes that ended with both of them in tears however when the interview ended Tha alleged that Babes was using cocaine during the live.
Tha has since apologized to Babes for the damming allegations he levelled against the musician and according to him, Babes accepted his apology.
Well, it seems that they might have not fully understood that it was a "mistake" as Babes has opened a criminal case against the socialite and instructed her legal team to sue him for defamation of character.
According to Sunday Sun, Babes' lawyer Ayanda Mngadi of Ayanda Shazi & Associates confirmed that her client has instructed them to file the legal action.
Babes Wodumo Age
Babes Wodumo was born on the 26th of July in 1994, she is 25 years old.
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Babes Wodumo Family
As a child, she grew up with interests in dancing, singing, football and athletics. It is a passion which gave her the name “Wodumo” and she maintained her aura which led her to the successful young lady she is today.
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Born Bongekile Selimane she was raised by her father, Reverend Welcome Semilane. Babes grew up with her only sister, Nonduh Simelane. Her parents however, never approved of her interests of being in the entertainment world.
Instead, they wanted her to study towards becoming a social worker, as she had the passion of helping people in society, mostly assisting the elderly. Eventually, the musician focused on dancing and started receiving affirming support from her family and worked towards her growth as an artist.
Reverend Welcome named his daughter "Babes" after she was born. He believed her eyes looked similar to those of a member in "The Babes" group.
Babes Wodumo Marriage
Babes Wodumo is married to Mandla Maphumulo, who is known by his stage name, Mampintsha. He is also a member of Big Nuz.
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The two didn't announce their marriage until people were surprised with a picture on Instagram of the duo showing their wedding rings.
Their marriage was heavily criticized as it is believed that the relationship isn't healthy and there are abuse allegations which have circulated since 2018. Despite that, the pair proclaimed their love for one another in a very cringy video posted to social media of themselves in a hot tub.
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At some point in their lives, people thought that the couple were pregnant with their first child. Babes used the media to tease a 'special announcement'. Many thought it was a pregnancy announcement, given that Babes was pictured wearing loose clothing at the time. However, it turns out that it was for a music video.
Babes Wodumo Career
Babes Wodumo has been in the music industry for six years. She first recorded Desha in 2014, which was meant to be her debut song, produced by Sir Bubzin, but Babes waited until 2016 - where she would claim her Gqom Queen status shortly after releasing a hit album.
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The playlist for her album is as follows:
Wololo
Thobeka Mercedes
Ching Chong
Family
Nkabinde Yesgebengu
Kuth’angkhulume
Buyisa uBabes Wodumo
Umngan’wami
Amatsegetsege
Uyang’phazamisa
Thula Wazi
Ngangingekho
She went into 2017 prepared as she was collecting vast awards from South African and international awards. This album led Babes Wodumo to later being featured on the Black Panther album by Kendrick Lamar.
Babes is the owner and manager of West Ink Dance Academy. It is a dancing academy where she teaches the art of choreography and routines.
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As a businesswoman, Babes has worked with several artists who featured her to lead the choreography or teaching their dances. This has led her into gaining a huge following for dancing and her music.
She has worked with the likes of Dj Tira, Big Nuz, Nikki Williams, Kendrick Lamar and many more popular artists.
Babes Wodumo Abuse Allegations
Babes Wodumo once was the major topic on the internet when she recorded her husband who allegedly was physically abusing her, on her Instagram story.
It wasn't long until the public was aware of the video and it went viral on social media. The alleged abuse caused hundreds of thousands to rally behind Babes and several hashtags were created to support the musician and called Babes to lay charges with the police.
This wasn't the first encounter of abuse allegations in their relationship. In May 2018, Babes was confronted by Mashechaba Ndlovu who is a host at Metro FM and she was interviewing Babes.
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Masechaba brought up the allegations which caused a stutter in Babes responses. The interview went viral and caused the abuse claim debate on social media.
This interview left so many fans with double emotions as they were not sure to shame Masechaba for breaching her interview and disclosing personal information or celebrating her for exposing the realities that the musician was facing but didn't have the courage to come out and talk about it.
Mampintsha felt heated up and urgently responded to the controversial interview. He admitted to having overreacted at certain instances but claims not to be an abuser.
He emphasized his love for Babes and he particularly emphasized that his aim was not to harm her during the moments he overreacted.
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"I am no saint, nor do I plead absolute innocence in the claims made in that interview. I may have overreacted in a couple of incidents during our relationship with her over certain things I will not be comfortable to discuss in the public domain. As for the accuracy of the abuse claims, the build-up to the interview, the motive and the timing ... is a matter I will leave to fate," Mampintsha, at The Times.
The criticism continued and Babes Father, Reverend Welcome Simelane released a media statement, which included that the family was grateful for the way Mandla groomed Babes to the woman she has become.
"After all, we thank Mandla Maphumulo for discovering talent in Babes and grooming her to be where she currently is. We thank all those who supported our daughter, it’s truly showed how much she is loved,".
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This caused outrage and celebrities started sharing their sentiments. The likes of Cassper Nyovest, Boity, Amanda Black, Pearl Thusi and so many shared their views and their position towards gender-based abused and domestic violence.
It wasn't for long until Babes dropped the charges against her husband but this time around, Reverend Welcome decided to distance himself from his daughter's relationship.
Babes Wodumo Controversy
Lady Zamar broke her silence about the cyberbullying she had experienced with Babes Wodumo.
“I didn’t even know the meaning of the names she called me, but I eventually learned that one of them is a b***h who goes around sleeping with different men to the point where her vagina is worn out,” she said.
The Collide hit singer has exposed how the musician had shared mean remarks regarding her skin, which is as a result of her Acne. Baes tried so hard to convince people that she had cyberbullied Lady Zamar, but the truth eventually came out.
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The Gqom artist found herself in hot water again when she tweeted that if people get beat up by the policemen during the lockdown, then they should retaliate. This angered many on the Twitter streets and she got dragged for it.
Tweeps lambasted the controversial musician, saying she must lead by example and she should have hit back Mampintsha when he assaulted her.
A video of Babes Wodumo has surfaced online and landed her on the Twitter trends list as Mzansi tries to figure out exactly what she is saying. The clip is less than 10 seconds long but it was enough to get the Wololo hitmaker trending.
Babes, alongside her sister and muso Tipcee,were once accussed of beating up an unknown woman from Durban. For that Babes was summoned to make an appearance in court. To add insult to injury, Babes was pictured doing the vosho outside court and posing for pics which she uploaded to her social media account.
Nothing was more bizarre than a pic circulating of a rather ratchet looking Babes Wodumo, which reveals her drastic weight loss and unkempt appearance. A few days after the pic went viral, Babes tweeted; "Pray for me".
Since her activity in music, Babes collected a number of awards in 2017. This was following the success of her debut album, which was released in 2016.
2016 - MTV Music Awards for Song of the Year
2017 - Best International Act: Africa at the BET Awards Best Female Artist, Gqom Queen Vol. 1,
2017 - 16th Metro FM Music Awards in Best Kwaito Album, Gqom Queen, Vol. 1, at the 23rd South African Music Awards in 2017
2017 - Best Female Artist of the year at the 23rd South African Music Awards.
2017 - The 16th Metro FM Music Awards for Song of the Year, Wololo, at the 16th Metro FM Music Awards Newcomer of the Year, Gqom Queen, Vol. 1.
2017 - The 23rd South African Music Awards BET Award for Best International Act: Africa for Best New Artist, Gqom Queen Vol. 1,
2019 - NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation – Black Panther in Best Dance Album, Gqom Queen Vol. 1.
Babes Wodumo Cars
Babes Wodumo owns a Mercedes Benz V-Class, 2019 model which is estimated to be at a market price of R1 300 000 and she added to a new ride to her collection with the Audi S7 which has a market price of R1 100 000.
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Collectively, Babes Wodumo owns cars which are worth over R2 millions combined.
Babes Wodumo Net Worth
Babes Wodumo is estimated to be worth over R5 million as her income from the West Inc company and her musical career which has generated money for her over touring, shows, and performances.
