OUTsurance not budging despite 50 000-strong petition to bring Maboe back

After his private life was plastered all over in public, Katlego Maboe has received much-needed backing from fans wanting him back on TV.

Admitting he cheated on his partner, Monique Muller, on video and supposedly giving her an STD, the TV presenter and OUTsurance ambassador’s career has been placed on hold to deal with serious allegations of domestic violence. Maboe has denied the allegations and the matter is being investigated.

A petition was started since the scandal broke, with some people believing Maboe should have never been pulled off the air due to “bedroom issues”.

With an online petition now reaching more than 50 000 signatures, the petitioner starts off by saying: “I am not condoning his behaviour of cheating on his partner but this young man is human after all and I feel this woman took their internal bedroom or home affairs to the outside world of which it doesn’t concern us and it doesn’t concern his work as well.”

If OUTsurance doesn’t bring Maboe back, the petition’s goal is to have enough signatures so that South Africans can boycott the insurance company until he returns to the screens.

“This young man deserves a chance because he was not drunk, abusing any woman or taking drugs in the eyes of the public,” the petition adds.

OUTsurance spokesperson Natasha Kawulesar in reply to The Citizen said it was aware of the petition but maintains its stance.

“We are aware of the petition and we believe our statement issued provides clarity around why the stance was taken to remove the ads, our working relationship with Katlego and that the removal of the ads does not impact Katlego financially as he has already been compensated for the campaign.”

She added the reason it gave in its statement last week would not change its decision because of the serious nature of the allegations of domestic violence by his estranged partner.

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“Following media reports of infidelity and an acrimonious marital relationship, including alleged physical abuse, involving Katlego Maboe, OUTsurance has engaged extensively with Katlego and it was decided that Katlego and his family should be afforded the space and time to deal with this matter.

“As part of that discussion, the proposal was to in the meantime suspend all advertisements featuring Katlego.  OUTsurance remains of the opinion that the matter should be resolved in private,” the statement read.

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