He may be off the air currently, but Katlego Maboe’s fans made sure he had a nice birthday.
The embattled TV presenter and actor turned 34 years old on Thursday, just a week after a viral video scandal.
In the video, the mother of his child, Monique Muller, accused him giving her a STD and he admitted to cheating on her with a woman named Nikita Murray.
Maboe was suspended from “The Expresso Show” while Outsurance removed his TV adverts, but fans have come out in support for the popular presenter saying it was unfair that he is losing work over issues in his personal life.
A “Bring Back Katlego Maboe” petition on Change.org had over 62 000 signatures thus far.
Fans also created a “We Support Katlego” Facebook page which has nearly 5000 followers.
On Thursday, they flooded social media with birthday messages.
Many posted on “The Expresso Morning Show” Facebook page, wishing him happy birthday and continued their campaign to have him reinstated.
Enhle-Mbali Buthelezi wrote: “Happy birthday, Kat, may God bless you. So many ppl are cheating in South Africa and everyone deserves their Job. His personal life not anybody’s business #bringbackKat.(sic)”
Tankiso Boleke wrote: “Happy Birthday Katlego Maboe, we miss you so much, When is our brother Katlego coming back bathong,” to which Expresso Morning Show replied: “Thank you for sharing your birthday message Tankiso”.
Marc Isaacs, who started the We Support Katlego page on Facebook, says he is surprised to see that most of the supporters are women, in light of Monique’s abuse claims.
“When starting the group, I was aiming for the support specifically of men and fans, surprisingly the support is mostly women in favour of Katlego,” he said.
“I started the group (last Friday) mostly because I felt that Katlego’s partner handled the situation incorrectly and that she aimed to destroy his life.Yet the brands he worked for decided to take premature action against him, not realising that he would have the support of the people.
“On many occasions, some members asked to join simply to express their opinion on Gender-Based Violence because of reports that Katlego abused his wife.
“This was quickly dealt with by female members who advocate that he is innocent until proven guilty.”
Speaking to IOL Entertainment, Maboe said he stood by his initial statement where he denied the abuse allegations, adding the matter was being litigated and therefore was sub judice.
“I’m respecting the legal process and everyone involved and not compromising anyone or bringing anyone into disrepute,” he said.
Concerning the video circulating on social media, where he is apparently being filmed by Muller, Maboe said it was filmed on August 24 and started as a regular evening at home and ended in the grilling session.
“My child was used as a weapon, and as a father, I was placed in a position where I need to consider my love for him ... I said what I said on the video and I tried my best to at least draw the line of the integrity of the people involved.
“I was very willing to have the conversation with her in person, but very soon realised the intention of the video from the beginning was for it to be released.”
Daily Voice