DURBAN - A PIETERMARITZBURG woman wants justice after she was allegedly assaulted and her phone damaged by an actress from Imbewu, The Seed outside the Cubana Restaurant on Friday night for allegedly taking a video of her while she was leaving.
Nompilo Mkhize, a Durban University of Technology student, had posted pictures of her scratched face-damaged phone on social media at the weekend and related the incident that left her humiliated and traumatised.
The incident has left Mkhize with a charge of violating the lockdown curfew rules and the possibility of a criminal record.
Immediately after the incident, she and one of her friends went to the police station to open a case of assault against the actress, but they were slapped with a charge for being out after 12am.
She said despite explaining why they were there, both she and her friend were issued with a R1 500 fine before the officer assisted them with opening the assault case.
Mkhize said she was on her phone outside the restaurant when the actress approached and accused her of taking a video of her with her cellphone.
“She asked what I was doing. I was shocked at the violent approach. She accused me of taking a video of her. Before I could say anything, she grabbed my phone from my hand and deleted the recent videos on my phone before she smashed my phone on the floor.
“I felt violated and humiliated. There were lots of people outside and she just singled me out and accused me of taking a video of her.
“She had no right to disrespect me like that. If I wanted to take a picture or a video of her I would have done it while she was seated right next to our table inside the restaurant.”
Mkhize said the actress drove off, leaving her puzzled about what had just happened.
“If you’re in a public place and people are taking pictures and videos, chances are you may appear in the background. Using violence and accusing people of targeting you is just unfair.”
“I want my tragic incident to be a warning to other celebrities that they are not superior to other ordinary people,” she said.
Mkhize said she and her friend were in the process of getting legal advice on whether they should pay the fine or not.
“Paying the fine would be an admission of guilt. I understand that by fining us, the police were doing their job, but we do not understand that they had to ignore the fact that we were there to report a crime that happened 30 minutes before the curfew.”
She said she was now unable to attend virtual classes and communicate with her classmates.
Police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala confirmed that a case of assault and malicious damage to property was opened at Pietermaritzburg SAPS.
She said the charges were still under investigation.
She said further to that, two women aged 22 and 24, were placed under arrest for failing to confine themselves to their residence.
The actress could not be reached for comment.
Daily News