Babes Wodumo: Outrage in South Africa over video of singer being beaten

A video of a South African singer being beaten by what appears to be her boyfriend has sparked fury in the country.

Bongekile Simelane, who goes by the stage name Babes Wudomp, was addressing fans on Instagram Live in a bedroom when she was slapped repeatedly.

Babes Wodumo, a 24-year-old Gqom singer, is trending on Twitter in South Africa and the hashtag #StopWomenAbuse is also gaining traction.

Gqom is a genre of electronic dance music that surfaced in the early 2010s from Durban and developed out of South African house music, kwaito and hip-hop.

Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa said he was "horrified" and urged the musician to press charges.

"1. We're absolutely horrified by the actions of Musician Mapmpintsha @MampintshaNuz caught on video where he brutally abuses Internationally celebrated Artist @BABESWODUMO," he tweeted, naming her boyfriend Mandla Maphumulo, also known as Mampintsha.

He added: "We do not only condemn this senseless act but call on @BABESWODUMO to immediately press charges against him”.

Mr Maphumulo has not commented on the video but in relation to similar accusations last year, he denied being an "abuser", according to Times Live. However, he also added that he was "no saint".

"I may have overreacted in a couple of incidents during our relationship with her over certain things," he said.

The musician, who featured on the Black Panther soundtrack, often collaborated with Mr Maphumulo, including on one of her hit tracks "Wololo".

The saga has sparked anger in the country that has one of the highest rates of sexual violence in the world and also has a massive problem with violence against women more generally.

A 2016 study by Statistics SA found that one in five women report that they have experienced violence at the hands of a partner.

Some 7.7 per cent of men and 6.8 per cent of women thought it was acceptable for a husband to hit his wife if she argued with him, a 2018 report by Statistics South Africa found.

Opposition political parties hit out at the attack – with the leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance, Mmusi Maimane, saying he wanted to fight the man himself.

He said on video that he "must go into a boxing ring and let's pick on someone his own size and I'd like to take him on".

The EFF in KwaZulu-Natal says it plans to open a case with police to investigate footage, reports Times Live.

According to government statistics, rape and other types of sexual violence against women are prevalent in South Africa.

According to estimates released last June by the national statistic service of South Africa, 138 out of every 100,000 women in the country were raped in 2016 and 2017.

“This figure is among the highest in the world. For this reason, some have labelled South Africa the 'rape capital of the world,'” it said.

The police recorded 40,035 rapes in the 12 months leading to 31 March last year, an average of 110 each day, according to independent fact-checking organisation Africa Check.

This marks a small increase on the previous year which saw 39,828 recorded rapes.