Dineo Ranaka’s PR rep drops her

It seems trouble never stops for Dineo Ranaka, who has been trending on Twitter for a week now after the matric dress scandal. Last week, Twitter user and Ranaka fan Dimpho Mnisi asked her for a donation in the form of a matric dance dress – a request Ranaka did not seem to understand.

“A matric dance should be the VERY least of your stresses. The aim is not to look rich but to be rich.  Many parents feel pressure from their kids to look amazing for one night, which will not guarantee them a bright future. By no means am I disregarding the need to celebrate being in matric, but can we not celebrate after we have worked hard and obtained matric certificates? Wouldn’t that make better sense to play dress up for a reason? I stand as a parent and a young person who is conscious about the education system of the country, the aim is to be rich and not look rich #EducationForward,” she said.

This was met with an angry backlash from Twitter users, with most saying the comment was uncalled for and rude, and that she should have just refused to give Mnisi the dress without making such statements.

Since then, Mnisi has received offers from Lerato Kganyago and Sizwe Dhlomo, among others, to pay for her matric dance dress.

However, things turned our for the worst when Ranaka slept over at Mnisi’s house, woke up the following morning and posted a video on Instagram of them together. In the video, Ranaka tells fans she is friends with Mnisi, though she still won’t be buying her the dress she asked for.

“The point of the exercise is to show that we don’t have to agree with each but love and respect is what is important,” she said, comments that still did not sit well with those who defended Mnisi.

Twitter went into another uproar, calling Mnisi a traitor for “allowing Dineo to use her for a PR stunt” while also lashing out at Ranaka for “stooping so low to get media attention”. It seems the “PR stunt” did not work out, as her PR representative, Ndabezinhle PR and Communications, released a statement on Sunday saying they had parted ways with Ranaka over the matric dance scandal.

Read their statement below:

Ndabezinhle PR and Communications’ statement on Twitter.