The Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Ms Mmapaseka Steve Letsike, MP has noted with poignant disgust, the callous utterances by podcaster Macgyver Mukwevho, directed at media personality Minnie Dlamini during an April 2025 episode on the platform Podcast and Chill.
In his vomitous utterances, Mr Mukwevho speculated with authourity on the reasons behind the termination of Ms Dlamini’s past romantic relationships, crudely insinuating that “maybe her coochie smells or something”, distastefully referencing her genital odour as a “supposed reason” for her break-ups. These comments are nauseating in their vulgarity, and they must be regarded as an unconstitutional violation of Ms. Dlamini’s rights to freedom and security of the person, equality, and human dignity as enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
What is most alarming, is that Mr Mukwevho has a known history of disparaging Ms Dlamini and various other women on the same platform, some of whom are reported to have initiated civil proceedings to reclaim their Constitutional rights and dignity, which have been savagely molested by Mr Mukwevho’s uncouth verbal temperament.
Deputy Minister Letsike considers Mr Mukwevho’s utterances to constitute online gender- based violence, which is “any act of gender-based violence against a woman that is committed, assisted or aggravated in part or fully by the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), such as mobile phones and smartphones, the internet, social media platforms or email, against a woman because she is a woman, or affects women disproportionately” as per the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (NSP on GBVF).
We hang our heads in shame, that as a country with a shameful and regrettable history of the Natal Code of Native Law, which apartheid regime statute deputised all females as legal minors, commodified women through lobola regulations, and controlled women’s mobility, sexuality, finances and labour, regardless of their standing in society as adults with autonomy and sound mind, we have persons defending Mr Mukwevho’s utterances as correct within the context of a progressive democracy such as ours.
“As the Ministry in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, we welcome the immediate and overwhelmingly condemnatory response by some followers of the Podcast and Chill and some South Africans to Mr Mukwevho’s vitriol. There is no room in our democratic Republic for any misogynistic and demeaning utterances that perpetuate patriarchal iterations of gender relations. We are encouraged that within the ranks of South African society, we have persons who are sober in mind to call out abhorrent tendencies that are a distraction from achieving gender equality.” said Deputy Minister Letsike.
Further, we have noted and do appreciate the ethos in the strongly worded statement issued by the Moja Love channel and others condemning Mr Mukwevho’s chronic disregard for women’s rights and gender equality in his utterances. Women cannot be reduced to vulgar slurs and the objectification of the female body as this is a damaging reinforcement of gender- based disrespect and consequently violence.
We call on the Moja Love channel to demonstrate leadership, and act swiftly to ensure consequences for the utterances they have publicly castigated. The chronic trend will cease only as there are tangible ramifications on the hosts of the podcast, and all other content aired by the Moja Love channel that perpetuates GBVF, whether sexual, physical, financial, emotional and/or online. The walk must match the talk, if we are to enact any meaningful and progressive social change.
We issue this statement with a clear message – such backward misogynistic rhetoric will not be tolerated in our democratic Republic. We call on all-of-society to hold content creators accountable, at least to the basic pursuit for human dignity and Ubuntu. Broadcasters must enforce strict standards that prohibit hate speech and personal attacks, and regulators should strongly consider whether measures are warranted to prevent the normalisation of gender- based online violence on the airwaves. We stand in full solidarity with Ms Dlamini and with all women who have been subjected to this kind of degradation.
Consequently, Deputy Minister Steve Letsike, MP has undertaken to pursue the following course of action as we continue to fix the country toward ubiquitous access to human rights and dignity, specifically for women:
1. Mr Mukwevho’s utterances will be referred to the relevant Constitutional and statutory bodies for investigation including but not limited to the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE), the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), and the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA), among others.
2. The matter on the regulation of online platforms such as podcasts and other streaming services, particularly in line with the censure guidelines of the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) and other relevant statutory bodies will be escalated to the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, specifically in so far as the online content perpetuates harmful gender stereotypes should be regulated.
3. Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies will be engaged to ramp up efforts to consider bolstering legislative gaps to enforce accountability on the censure guidelines of the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) and other statutory bodies to protect women and all vulnerable groups from online gender-based violence.
4. Mr Mukwevho’s utterances will be referred to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities to summon Mr Mukwevho to appear before the committee and account in line with Section 56 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. The referral will call on the Portfolio Committee to exercise Parliament’s powers as per chapter 5 of the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliaments and Provincial Legislatures (Act 4 of 2004). Should Mr Mukwevho fail without sufficient cause to appear before the committee, processes to implement section 17 (1)(c)(ii) of the Act must be engaged and Mr Mukwevho may be “liable to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 12 months or to both the fine and imprisonment.”
5. Legal counsel on a possible criminal case of crimen injuria with the South African Police Service (SAPS) will be explored, and as it may be legally plausible, the Deputy Minister will advocate that such as case should be pursued in the strongest possible terms.
6. The Deputy Minister will engage Ms Dlamini on Mr Mukwevho’s utterances toward ensuring we coalesce the Ministry’s response to this matter with Ms Dlamini, and we continue to prioritise safeguarding her dignity in the face of what strongly presents as online gender-based violence.
7. Consultations with relevant departments will be undertaken to strengthen coordination of governments’ efforts to implement legislation such as the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Act, the Cybercrimes Act, the Protection from Harrassment Act, and the Films and Publications Amendment Act, among others. There must be a platform and mechanism that enables all victims of online gender-based violence to report incidents of such violence, to ensure that no woman is targeted through unregulated online platforms.
“As the Deputy Minister responsible for Women, a long-time advocate for gender equality, and a woman myself, I find Mr Mukwevho’s comments reprehensible. This incident is not a harmless joke or casual banter – it is a harrowing demonstration of online gender-based violence. By publicly linking Ms Dlamini’s prospects of “keeping a man” to crude stereotypes about her body, these utterances perpetuate a toxic culture that demeans women and normalises misogyny and sexism. We cannot allow such language to become the norm under the guise of frivolous entertainment. Every woman in South Africa deserves to have their dignity respected, particularly in public discourse.” emphasised Deputy Minister Letsike.
Media enquiries:
Ms Nompendulo Mkhatshwa, Spokesperson for the Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities
Cell: 083 406 6496
Mr Cassius Selala, Head of Communication: Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities
Cell: 060 543 0672
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