TV personality Katlego Maboe's career has taken a huge knock since his ex and baby mama, Monique Muller, accused him of being unfaithful and of physically abusing her.
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The former Expresso presenter, as a result, lost his job, his sponsorships and endorsement deals. Months later he was also arrested and not seen on television again. Even the 'Changa Daai Ding' Outsurance advert he was on replaced him with radio presenter Elana Afrika. It wasn't until two months ago, when the South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) announced him as a nominee for Best TV Presenter award, that he made an unexpected comeback.
But sadly for him his comeback was short-lived, as just days after making the nominees list he was removed from it. This move by the SAFTAs jury, to rescind Katlego's nomination, caused an uproar on social media. His fans wanted to know how his infidelity affected his work. Others did not understand why he was nominated in the first place because his cheating scandal was public knowledge and has been since 2020 when it made headlines. Among some of the people who needed answers and believed that the SAFTAs did Katlego wrong was entertainment commentator Phil Mphela.
After many weeks, we finally have the answers. According to Women For Change - a well-known anti gender based violence organization - more information about Katlego and the SAFTs debacle has emerged. An interview clip from eNCA, which was posted by the organization's Twitter account, shows SAFTA's judging chairperson Janet Van Eeden explaining their decision to revoke the nomination. Janet revealed that they received a lot of pressure from GBV organizations and gay organizations to remove Katlego from the category.
In addition to this, it was discovered through an undisclosed organization that three women have allegedly opened sexual assault cases against the presenter. It has also been revealed that he breached the protection order his ex had against him. In light of these allegations, and upon deliberation, his nomination had to be removed by the awards platform.
Women For Change broke the news, and also thanked the SAFAs for taking the fight against gender based violence seriously.
— Women For Change (@womenforchange5) June 23, 2021
The statement read as follows: "I was unfaithful to my partner during a very important time of our lives - an act I regret to this day. We are currently undergoing an unfortunate and painful separation which is being resolved through legal proceedings. As you can imagine, separations are quite a difficult thing to deal with, especially with a child involved.
“In light of the comments made against me, I would like to state that I have never abused my partner. I have always and will always stand up against the abuse of women and children - in fact, the abuse of anyone for that matter. I had chosen to deal with this matter privately to protect and safeguard our child. At the end of the day, our child is all that matters to me."
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