Cancelling ‘Isencane Lengane’ not the solution - Moja LOVE after GBV incident

JOHANNESBURG - On Monday, infamous DStv channel Moja LOVE released a statement on their Twitter account saying they did not condone gender-based violence (GBV).

The release followed public uproar after an episode of their reality television show, Isencane Lengane, aired on the channel.

The episode saw married couple Thando Msomi and Siyacela Dlamuka engage in an argument that escalated into Dlamuka becoming violent towards Msomi in a fit of jealous rage.

The televised attack prompted many people on Twitter to criticise the channel for airing an alleged incident of intimate-partner violence (IPV) on national television, going as far as including a clip of the incident to promote the episode.

In response, Moja LOVE said in their statement the channel “prides itself on producing content that reflects the reality in our society,” and that it could not “sweep the GBV incident… under the carpet”.

“In a country burdened by Gender-Based violence and Femicide, Moja LOVE has a responsibility to reflect and show the extent of this pandemic,” it said in the statement.

Given that South Africa is one of the world’s most violent countries towards women, many called the statement tone-deaf and said the channel should not have aired the episode, demanding that the show be cancelled altogether.

In the statement, Moja LOVE claimed the production crew intervened as the incident happened but that, for an unspecified reason, they were not allowed to film this.

The controversial channel has been called exploitative on numerous occasions and this time chose to air the incident, without consequences for Dlamuka.

“[Msomi] was given an option to open a case against [Dlamuka], but she chose not to exercise that option and instead, the channel moved [Msomi] away to a different location from [Dlamuka]."

Head of Channel at Moja LOVE Bokani Moyo said in the statement: “Cancelling the show is not the solution but let’s rather open a platform to discuss issues that are eating away the moral fibre of our society.”

In November, the Ministry of Police released the quarter two crime statistics between July 2022 and September 2022, which indicated that 989 women were murdered in the country.

This was an increase of 10.3% when compared to the 2021 statistics that indicated that 897 women were killed, taken during the same period.

Additionally, attempted murder cases against women increased by 10.6%, while women who were victims of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm increased by 15.9% for the same comparative period.