But she is not the only celebrity who has been a victim of abuse. One in five women in South Africa are victims of abuse, and these celebrities have shared stories of their horrifying ordeals.
Here’s a look at five Mzansi stars who have opened up about their abuse.
Kwaito star Mshoza recalled the night “all hell broke loose” when her ex beat her up in a fit of jealous rage. “He is this strong, tall and huge person, and I’m tiny. I really thought he was going to kill me. I begged him to stop. I begged for forgiveness,” she told Drum magazine last year.
Singer Kelly Khumalo shared pictures of her injured face in 2011, and accused her ex Molemo ‘Jub Jub’ Maarohanye of beating her up. Kelly opened up the abuse again in 2016, describing Jub Jub as being “very abusive” during an interview on MTV Base’s Behind the Music. He denied the claims.
TV personality Khanyi Mbau accused her ex-husband Mandla Mthembu of beating her up so badly she would bleed.
“I’d grab him by the scruff of the neck and try to push him over the balcony railing. He’d wrestle me to the ground and pull my hair. Then he’d hit me and I’d try to strangle him. My last resort was to kick him in the balls, where it hurt. I fought like I was going to die,” she wrote in her 2011 memoir, B*tch Please, I’m Khanyi Mbau.
Busisiwe ‘Cici’ Twalaonce’s private relationship with Arthur Mafokate was thrust into the spotlight in June when she accused him of abusive behaviour. She broke her pelvic bone after being dragged for 300 metres while holding onto the handle of Arthur’s car door following an argument. But she says it was not the first time things turned violent between the couple.
She told the Sowetan that the 999 Boss strangled and dragged her on a hard surface in 2016 after an argument about a cellphone.
“We got into an altercation which led to him choking me and dragging me out of the bedroom. As we approached the staircase, I kicked against the railing of the staircase to try and free myself. We then tumbled down the stairs and when he got up, he choked me again and dragged me into the guest room. The only time he stopped choking me was when I started bleeding from my private part. I was feeling very weak at the time. He went out and just left me there on the floor,” she said.
Arthur denies he is a woman abuser.
Former Diski Divas star Nonhle Ndala revealed in 2015 that she survived an abusive relationship. She accused her former husband of being possessive, jealous, and physically abusing her.
“I was belittled in that marriage and ended up lacking self-belief. Once he harms you physically, it’s no longer love,” she told Drum magazine.
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