Everything Khanyi Mbau and Thembekile Mrototo ignored in their colourism chat

For the past two weeks, Khanyi Mbau’s social media tirade has been inextricably linked to the colourism debate sparked by Sho Madjozi’s BET win.

So much so that Mbau, a who woman who previously sported a darker hue but no longer does thanks to “skin-bleaching”, was invited to be the sole face of an interview on colourism in the South African entertainment industry.

She was then asked a series of surface-level questions that did not even touch on points that were pivotal to the subject matter.

The interviewer, Thembekile Mrototo, began by asking how much of Mbau’s hotly-debated skin colour was natural and how much of it was cosmetic.

According to Mbau, 90% of the colour of her skin is cosmetic, but how does one even begin to quantify that?

She then went on to state her choice to lighten her skin was not one fueled by the colourism within the industry that she was invited to comment on.

Mbau explained that one of her many reasons for chemically bleaching her skin was the fact that lighter skin meant that she would spend less time in the make-up chair.

This is patently false.

Khanyi Mbau then and now | Image: YouTube

Darker skinned people are less prone to visible dark marks and scars, lessening their need for make-up.

Following that reasoning, Mrototo then asked her what she had to say to those who “reduce” skin lightening to wanting to not be a darker black person.

Mbau took the conversation in an entirely different direction once again by calling African people bullies who wanted to take away the very freedoms they fought for by dictating to others how to be African.

There have been various articles, news inserts, and documentaries produced on colourism and skin-bleaching. Most of the time, darker women who have gone Mbau’s root claim to have done so because they were made to feel as though their look, often tied to “looking African” was something undesirable and something that should be changed. Additionally, the subliminally suggested change had to be as close to whiteness as possible.

The easiest documentary one can watch on the pervasiveness of colourism is a 2011 documentary called “Dark Girls.”

While I get the point Mbau was trying to make, she was completely disregarding the conversation at hand and vehemently making a case for the choice she made. A choice I personally have no qualms with her making.

When asked about the risks associated with her procedure, Mbau once again deflected by answering the question with a non-answer.

She touched on everything but the known liver and kidney damage associated with bleaching one’s skin via an intravenous drip using glutathione as Mbau and many other celebrities currently do.

The pair then moved to the colourism debate within the industry which Mbau was able to at least bring a fresh perspective to by explaining that one’s skin colour lends to typecasting. She added that typecasting for fairer women is reserved for “less meaty” roles and that this could leave one feeling frustrated when they want to be perceived as a serious actress.

Ironically, Mrototo asked Mbau about her opinion on the dangers of taking such a vast topic and making it about an individual – in a discussion with only one guest – and she went on to comment about parents looking to celebrities to be role models for their children instead.

She absolutely refused to admit that public figures had an impact on the thought processes, self-image, and desires of their followers and instead placed the onus on the homes and backgrounds they came from to be able to divorce all that from the lives they saw their favourite public figures living.

She also refused to admit that there was a need for diversity within the entertainment industry beyond the archetypes we have been fed all these years.

All in all, as an interviewer, Mrototo coddled Mbau instead of debating her and she remained so committed to justifying her choices to the public that she didn’t even listen to the questions she was being asked.

Watch the full interview below:

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