Babes Wodumo has been hospitalised, says her father

Gqom star Babes Wodumo, real name Bongekile Simelane, has been hospitalised following the alleged abuse at the hands of her boyfriend, Mandla Maphumulo, better known as Mampintsha, according to her father, Welcome Simelane.

Simelane was speaking at a media briefing held on Tuesday morning, at which Wodumo was also expected to appear. It was held at Loram House, Masabalala Yengwa Avenue, in Durban’s CBD.

Instead, however, her father announced she had been hospitalised, for reasons unknown at this stage.

He also confirmed that Babes laid charges against Mampintsha at a police station in Westville, Durban, on Monday and called on the public and the media to give police the time and space to do their work and investigate the charges.

His wife, Thokozile Simelane, also spoke briefly, saying she would not comment on her daughter’s injuries as the investigation was ongoing.

The family read a statement at the briefing. The media was not given an opportunity to ask any questions.

A video in which singer and dancer Babes Wodumo can be seen being beaten, allegedly by Maphumulo, had South Africa seething on Monday morning.

Attempts to contact Maphumolo through his publicist at West Ink Bookings were unsuccessful at the time of publication.

He has been accused of beating her before.

The footage is apparently from a live Instagram video broadcast she was doing with fans overnight.

Although she or someone else allegedly deleted the original video, clips of it have nevertheless been doing the rounds, especially on Twitter, where the videos trended throughout Monday.

(Background reporting by Charles Cilliers and Vhahangwele Nemakonde)

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