TORONTO, ON – SEPTEMBER 11: Director Khalo Matabane attends ‘State Of Violence’ Premiere held at Scotia Bank Theatre during the 35th Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2010 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Les Wawrow/Getty Images)
The award-winning director has a wealth of top productions in his portfolio, including 2014’s Nelson Mandela: The Myth and Me and SABC 1’s When We Were Black. However, his reputation came under fire this month, after an actress accused him of behaving inappropriately on set.
The woman in question, Buhle Zulu, took to Twitter to reveal that while she and several other female actors were extras on the show, Matabane began to behave inappropriately.
She wrote: “He asked for our details and a week later he called, asking if I could come and visit him. He ended up harassing me with weird sexual and dark texts. I never go to any auditions when I see his name as a director. We need to name and shame the Harvey Weinstein of SA.”
Another actress claims he raped her during the 2010 World Cup.
“I was working part-time in a hotel in Cape Town during the World Cup. Khalo Matabane raped me. I said no. He put a pillow over my face.”
Neither of the two women pressed charges against him, and he has used this as ammunition in his fiery response.
Not only does the director maintain his innocence, but he’s also threatening legal action.
He released a short statement through the Sowetan newspaper: “The entire thing felt surreal, but then as friends and colleagues started calling, it started to feel real. I became angry for various reasons. But what would haunt me the most are the serious but false allegations of violence against women. We live in a country where abuse and violence against women is a real issue.”
According to the director, one of his accusers has already been served with a lawyer’s letter, but it remains to be seen how far he’s going to take his defence.
This story has many parallels with the manner in which American film mogul, Harvey Weinstein was exposed for his sexual misdemeanours last year.
His story inspired the world-famous #MeToo movement, which saw a number of Hollywood’s biggest names accused of sexual misconduct.
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