Why Nomuzi ‘Moozlie’ Mabena faked her InstaLive accident as part of a VW campaign

Social media users were left disgusted after it was revealed that rapper Nomuzi ‘Moozlie’ Mabena’s accident was staged as part of a road safety awareness campaign.

The drama began when her best friend and fellow rapper Rouge (real name Jessica Wedi) took to Twitter to ask if anyone had heard from her since seeing the accident happen during a live stream.

https://twitter.com/Rouge_Rapper/status/1083462983169130497

Moozlie took to Twitter earlier today to confirm suspicions that the video was in fact staged. She tweeted about the campaign along with a link to a behind-the-scenes video of how the stream was staged.

I partnered with @Volkswagen and @DriveDry to make a change in 2019. We don’t want to see another year where thousands of lives are lost on our roads because of drinking & driving.

Take the pledge and make the change to #VWDriveDry in 2019. #Nomuzihttps://t.co/HsxMlIBjQr

— #SpiritOfAnOG 🙏🏾💫 (@nomoozlie) January 11, 2019

In a statement on Friday afternoon, VW called their stunt a “bold campaign”.

“The #MonatiWaFela campaign which kicked off in December 2018, saw popular hip-hop artist Nomuzi Mabena who goes by the stage name Moozlie, posting images on her social media pages which were indicative of drinking and driving. She was seen getting behind the wheel shortly after partying, making stops at a popular fast food outlet at 2am with a red beer cup, sharing her secrets on avoiding metro police, and blatantly drinking what appears to be gin, all whilst behind the driver’s wheel. Her holiday culminates in a heart-stopping live Instagram video, whilst Moozlie is talking about her dreams for 2019. Within seconds there is a sudden screech and crash and the audience realises that she has been in a car accident. For 12 hours after the accident is shared across social media, fans speculated and contemplated the reality of what they had just witnessed.

“After an agonising day of her fans imagining the pain she and her family must be going through and reflecting on their own beliefs and behaviours, Volkswagen, Moozlie and Drive Dry released a video which revealed the truth about the accident. The crash and all subsequent posts leading up to it were staged in order to drive a powerful message home.”

Pictures from the ‘set’ of the ‘accident’. Supplied

Pictures from the ‘set’ of the ‘accident’. Supplied

“With another December of devastating road fatalities, many caused by drinking and driving, Volkswagen and Drive Dry wanted to create an impactful campaign that will make South Africans wake up to the realities of the behaviours that are condoned on social media. The campaign aims to inspire drivers to make a behavioural change and think twice before drinking and driving. The campaign also hopes to encourage friends and family to speak out against their loved-ones when they identify signs of drinking and driving.

“We wanted to showcase the journey and the consequences that can occur when drinking and driving is condoned. It is time for us as South Africans to take a pledge and make the change to ensure safer roads,” said Mabena.

‘‘By tapping into the insights of social media behaviour, we wanted to create an introspective campaign, where South Africans could reflect on condoning drinking and driving. The seemingly harmless behaviour at the time can have detrimental effects on road users around you and your loved-ones that you leave behind,” said Andile Dlamini, head of VWSA Group Communications.

Now that people know the accident was staged, though, the accident seems to have failed to have the desired effect. Social media users were more outraged about the fact that the video was faked than they were about the deaths caused by drunken driving and the use of cellphones behind the wheel.

This #Nomuzi stunt is distasteful and triggering if you know anybody that’s been, or died from, a real car accident.

— 𝙈𝙤𝙡𝙩𝙞 𝙏𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙈𝙧. 𝙋𝙞𝙩𝙨𝙤 (@mo_pitso) January 11, 2019

https://twitter.com/tutuzondo/status/1083704642779992064

Nomuzi career is done now. Whatever little bit that was left of it is finished.

I am so sooo triggered rn

— Her. (@Cani_Mannah) January 11, 2019

https://twitter.com/Moosa_Kaula/status/1083632349714239488

So🤔 #Nomuzi Took me and My children for a poes izolo i was suppose to answer other people's prayers but nani beniNgxola ngaye ndaqala ngaye kanti ubusy wenzi Mali ngeEmotions zabantwana bam? Yabona ke le Fame nyana yenu✋

— uYesu Nyana KaThixo (@uYesuKrestu) January 11, 2019

I'm just glad that Nomuzi is alive because you were gonna start lying saying her music was dope.#moozlie #Nomuzi

— The thread GOAT. 🐐 (@kjnr_khumalo) January 11, 2019

https://twitter.com/EsihleL/status/1083714790332293120

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