Sjava has opened up about how the rape case has affected him mentally, emotionally and career wise. The musician is not one to divulge too much about his private life, however one can tell that the whole saga surrounding his private affairs including the rape allegations made by Lady Zamar, really affected the muso negatively.
The eHostela actor sat down with Mzansi Insider's Rorisang Thandekiso and told her about how he is struggling to heal from the whole saga. His ex-girlfriend Lady Zamar had opened a rape case against him in 2019 at a local police station. She detailed how the incident took place after attending a mutual event together.
At the time, Lady Zamar said it couldn't have been consensual sex because she had a breast reduction surgery done in July 2017. Her doctor advised her that she was not allowed to have sex for about six weeks after it was done.
After months of defending himself, a publication reported that the rape case had been thrown out by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). On the show Sjava said that although his reputation has been restored and that he is finally back on his feet by landing work and regaining the support from his fans, he hasn't healed mentally.
"Career wise everything is going well, however mentally I am not coping. Even when I am in public spaces there is still that uncomfortable feeling I get from people, so I am still trying to heal from that.
"My music can be on the charts and it can do well but that does not mean I have healed. I am still trying to fix my spirits to be where it was before. What happened to me was not easy thing to go through. I do not wish it on anyone."
@Sjava_atm talks about his healing process of the whole 2020 saga!
Sjava had suffered a heavy blow from the industry which conforms to the requests of social media and their 'cancel culture.' He lost out on gigs and was pulled from Uzalo after shooting had started. In the video he released, he had stated how he lost money and was not able to support his family. With the allegations hovering over him, he could not work anywhere.
However, he now currently plays the role of Fish who is a villain in the drama series eHostela. "I've always admired his work when it comes to that, so we brought him in to basically shake things up as one of the antagonists within the story, and he's also doing the music,” said Mandla, producer of eHostela.
Despite the fact that he is back on his feet, Sjava is finding it difficult to survive because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Umqhele hitmaker has moved back home to his mom's home in KwaZulu-Natal.
“We are not getting paid, we can't work ... so this is a very difficult time for artists right now. Truly speaking, we don't know what we're going to do now – our things have stopped.
“I'm even back home because I can't make money. We've been suffering, we're from the bottom – the ghetto – I'm sure we'll survive.”
