Khanyi Mbau, Zodwa Wabantu to settle old grudge with boxing match

South African actress Khanyi Mbau and raunchy dancer Zodwa Wabantu are set to square off in a high-profile celebrity boxing match at the Ridge Hotel in Mpumalanga on October 22, giving both ladies a chance to address tensions stemming from their previous love triangle with fallen ex-billionaire Mandla Mthembu.

The boxing bout was confirmed to The Sowetan by promoter, Arnold “Squire” Nododile who said he expected the fight to be the first of many such exhibitions.

Celebrity fights in South Africa have been popularised by rapper Cassper Nyovest, who has taken part in three such bouts.

“This will be the first ever female celebrity exhibition boxing match-up on the African Continent since such fights have become part and parcel of the evolution of boxing around the globe,” said Nododile who acquired a promoter’s licence with BSA three months ago.

On the same card, Mapule Ngubane from South Africa will battle Charity Mukami Mutwiri from Kenya while South African Sazisiwe Simon will go against Pamela Matunga from Zimbabwe.

Also on the bill will be Matshidiso Mokatsane from the Free State who will go against Monalisa Takane from the Eastern Cape while Asanda Simelane from North West will go head-to-head with Nomfundo Xaba from KwaZulu-Natal.

“I expect a big attendance due to the massive following they have,” Nododile said of the fight between Mbau and Zodwa.

The two ladies have a chequered history, as they are both believed to have a child by Mthembu.

In an interview on MacG’s podcast in 2020, Mbau revealed how Mthembu, who she was married to, had cheated on her with Zodwa when she was pregnant.

She said Mthembu’s relationship with Zodwa felt more genuine than the one she enjoyed with him.

“I worshiped him, I saw him as my hero he saved me, he gave me all I dreamt about, he was like a god to me. Mandla and I never had a normal conversation with each other just to say, what do you like? How are you feeling? What hurts you?

“We would always talk about fashion, cars, what’s the next location, whose party are we going next to? So, we have never actually had conversations and I realized this when I was eight months pregnant where I couldn’t run around that’s when I realized that I was in trouble.

“When I was pregnant at times I never wanted to be touched, thats the gap that Zodwa found and filled. She gave him stuff that I couldn’t give him, they had conversations that we never had, and they bonded like for real.

“For us it was always he wanted to impress me all the time but with Zodwa it was real, they sat in her garage, their love was real.

“Remember this guy is a guy from the hood who just managed to bump into millions so is still hood and I am north, I am suburban so he met someone in his world that how she won him,” she said.