SAFTA snubs embattled presenter Katlego Maboe for 2021 TV awards

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The South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) have decided to rescind their nomination for beleaguered TV presenter Katlego Maboe, who had been punted for the Best TV Presenter Public Vote category.

Their decision is likely related to the mountainous scandal that has befallen Maboe in the last few months, with the former Expresso Morning Show host lambasted by the South African public over an extremely public marital dispute in which his dirty laundry was hung out for all to see. 

 

In a statement released on Friday 14 May, SAFTA said that Maboe would no longer be in the running for the prestigious award. “After careful deliberation of concerns raised regarding the nomination of Mr. Katlego Maboe in the Best TV Presenter Public Vote Category, announced on Thursday, 29 April 2021, the Saftas’s jury has decided to rescind his nomination. “The rescission is effective immediately and voting code 5 has been removed from the voting USSD line,” the Saftas said in a statement. The former Expresso presenter won in the very same category for two consecutive years in 2015 and 2016, with this year’s winner set to be announced on 22 May 2021.

 

Maboe stepped away from the scrutinizing public eye in late 2020 when a widely shared video of an argument between the TV presenter and his wife, Monique Muller, went viral on social media. In the video, Maboe – adorning a dressing gown confesses to cheating on his spouse, who claimed that Maboe’s infidelity had led to her contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Muller confronted him and threatened to leave if he didn’t fess up and tell the truth about the alleged affair, and later leveled the claim that Maboe infected her with an STD that “could ruin her chances of having more children”.

 

Several of Katlego Maboe’s high-profile sponsors and employers, including Outsurance and the Expresso Show have cut ties since the highly publicised dispute took place. Many on social media rushed to voice their disappointment with SAFTA’s decision, saying that the punishment does not fit Maboe’s crimes.

 
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