Kabelo Mabalane is 21 years sober. Image via Twitter: @KabeloMabalane
‘He knows better’: Kabelo Mabalane slammed for #NoExcuse campaign
‘Feels like a support group for perpetrators’: SA is not happy that Kabelo Mabalane, an ex-abuser, is at the forefront of #NoExcuse.
Kabelo Mabalane is 21 years sober. Image via Twitter: @KabeloMabalane
South African musician Kabelo Mabalane was trending on Twitter this week after he shared that he was working on an anti-gender-based violence campaign, #NoExcuse. In an Instagram post, Mabalane shares that he was abusive in his past. This did not sit well with locals who wondered why he was at the forefront of the campaign.
Kabelo Mabalane is catching smoke for his involvement in the #NoExcuse
Kwaito star Kabelo Mabalane proudly shared how he was taking part in Khomotso Komape’s #NoExcuse GBV campaign. According to Kabelo, despite having been an abusive person in the past, he is proud to lend his voice to the cause.
“Last week we launched #NoExcuse.A campaign that vehemently condemns intimate partner violence. As a young man, I too was a perpetrator of this shameful cowardly behaviour.
The shame and the embarrassment made me shy away from these spaces and I’ve since learned that as important as it is to take full responsibility for this reprehensible unacceptable behaviour,
I am also now at a place where I appreciate the importance of lending my voice to fighting this pandemic,” he wrote on Instagram.
ALSO READ: ‘An abuser himself’: Bujy Bikwa explains 5km walk against GBV
The fact that he admitted to being abusive did not sit well with Twitter users who soon started discussing how he could be at the forefront of the initiative.
@Thosi43314438 said:
“Zero Apology to his and other victims in this statement. Feels like a support group for perpetrators. The image/poster portrayed screams, Bafanas-ningawari, after the pain you cause, you will find pleasure. Overall a poor,bad-tasting clout campaign is our opinion #Ally. This PR sucks!”
The founder quickly comes to his defense
Meanwhile, the founder of the #NoExcuse campaign, Khomotso Komape quickly defended Kabelo by asking people to stop bullying him. He also told TshisaLive that he had no plans of distancing himself from the musical legend.
“Let’s take Kabelo as a human being because all of us have mistakes. Actually, we are happy as an organisation that one of our own came out and spoke. There are a lot of men who don’t want to say anything but they have a lot of mistakes in their lives.
“We must treat someone who came out and spoke about what’s going on in their lives as if they are the only one in the world who made that mistake. We must treat Kabelo like others and the more we are bullying him we are condemning him in his life, we must make sure we stop bullying him. He came out to say what he said to us and we must stop bullying Kabelo.”
ALSO READ: ‘I couldn’t watch anymore’: Viewers react to ‘Uzalo’s’ GBV episode
