Vusi Thembekwayo Addresses GBV Allegations Against Him By His Wife With A Public Statement. Gender Based Violence is considered to be one of the leading pandemics in Mzansi and victims are encouraged to speak up against their abuser’s. In more recent times, we have witnessed more allegations of GBV being levelled against celebrities and another high profile public figure has been accused of the criminal act.
It was reported that local motivations speaker and businessman Vusi Thembekwayo has been accused of gender based violence by his wife Palesa Thembekwayo. According to Palesa, Vusi is guilty of not only slapping his wife several times but also dragging her by her feet on the stairway during a violent domestic fight at their Joburg home on Saturday night.
The incident allegedly took place Saturday, December 4th and he was arrested and released on bail the following Monday December 6th. Thembekwayo’s wife has opened a case of common assault against the 36-year-old businessman at the Douglasdale police station.
According to a police statement, he arrived at their matrimonial home, found her sleeping in the upper level and woke her up.
“He woke her up and instructed her to pack and go. She refused and an argument ensued. He pulled her by the legs off the bed, slapped her several times, dragged her down the stairs, loaded her bags in the car and forced her in the car,” reads the statement.
The statement further states that as they were driving, Thembekwayo stopped at a traffic light and that’s when she jumped out of the vehicle and ran away.
It appears that Vusi has a different recollection of how the events took place as he claims he had left South Africa for Kenya on a business trip and was supposed to travel to Dubai, but cancelled the trip because of the travel ban on South Africans due to the Omicron Covid-19 variant. He was then infuriated after he arrived at their Dainfern home to a drunk Palesa.
According to the police, an argument soon erupted between the two and Thembekwayo allegedly packed her bags and chased her out of their marital pad however he denied assaulting her.
Gauteng provincial police spokesperson Mavela Masondo confirmed that Thembekwayo was arrested for common assault and appeared in the Randburg magistrate’s court on Wednesday. The case was postponed to next year.
Vusi has now defended himself in a statement asking for space and understanding during the difficult time and also shared that his wife has a long history with substance abuse in the past. According to Vusi, Palesa’s response is what lead to all the allegations being made against him and although unfortunate, he is prepared to go to any length to protect his children and prove his innocence.
