Pay TV-broadcaster M-Net remained silent on Wednesday as a growing rape scandal is swirling around its tawdry Big Brother Mzansi reality show in which a man bragged that "I dipped her" of a passed out female contestant.
Production company Endemol South Africa booted
the male contestant Adams (Siyanda Ngwenya) and also removed the woman, Bexx (Axola Mbengo) "for her well-being” from the
voyeuristic reality show on M-Net and MultiChoice's Big Brother Mzansi channels
on DStv.
Big Brother Africa and Big Brother Mzansi have been plagued by
assault and physical violence incidents in several previous seasons.
M-Net South Africa CEO Yolisa Phahle told
Eyewitness News (EWN) radio that "We do have a lot of footage which we are currently
going through with a very fine-tooth comb".
After heavy drinking on Saturday night – the
show plies the contestants with as much free alcohol as they want – the
liquored up man and woman jumped into bed and started to kiss when the cameras
switched away.
Later the man bragged to fellow contestants
that "I dipped her but I don't think she remembers because she passed out". The
distraught woman later told fellow contestants that she didn't consent to any
sex with the man.
Earlier on the same night, the woman was
pressed in-between the same man and another male contestant and then kissed and
groped against her will. Both men were cautioned by the producers about their
inappropriate behaviour but left in the house.
The Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) TV channel which
shows highlights – together with the two full coverage channels on DStv
channels 197 and 198 – said in a statement that "having suspected that there
may have been an incident of sexual misconduct, Mzansi Magic acted by removing
both individuals from the house".
Although the camera house is filled with
cameras, M-Net says "it is not exactly clear what happenedis not exactly clear what transpired" between the two
contestants in the Big Brother Mzansi
house.
Mzansi Magic tells TV with Thinus that "the
investigation into this matter continues and we will update the media as the
information becomes available".
During last year's season of Big Brother Mzansi, M-Net called a man
hitting a woman "an isolated incident".
M-Net has so far not responded to specific questions
and media enquiries about the allegations of rape, asking how M-Net protects
women in the production and what the broadcaster's viewpoint is regarding
socially responsible television and broadcasting.
