by Thinus Ferreira
M-Net and
production company Red Pepper Pictures have been forced to remove yet another
contestant from MultiChoice's scandal-riddled Big Brother Mzansi franchise with
Florence Mphirime, known as KayB, evicted over sexual assault.
The
abrupt removal of the 23-year-old student from Bloemfontein who groped and
touched other contestants inappropriately is the first eviction from the latest
Big Brother Mzansi Umlilo season, already mired in controversy, screened on
MultiChoice's DStv.
The
eviction from the show with LottoStar, Unilever's Robertsons Spice and Chillers
Punch as sponsors and executive produced by
Natalie Bleksley, and is the latest in a string of
contestants in the South African and Nigerian franchises booted from the
reality show - season after season - over physical violence, verbal threats like
rape, verbal attacks, as well as sexual harassment and sexual assault.
KayB's
removal comes after Bokang Chephetsa, known as Beekay, said "I felt
groped" by KayB and after Fortunate Setwaba, known as Nate, separately said
KayB touched her very inappropriately and that KayB fails to understand
consent.
According to section 16 of the production rulebook, KayB's inappropriate touching and groping are classified as sexual assault. Contestants told her repeatedly they're uncomfortable with her repeated sexual advances in the form of conversations and inappropriate touching.
It comes
just two days after producers had to send in an expert in harassment and
consent into the camera-filled house who did an educational session with the
contestants following the fallout from last week's Big Brother Mzansi Umlilo
controversy.
Last week
the show was engulfed in scandal when DStv broadcast sexual assault victim-shaming when Ashley Ogle and Bongiwe
Booi, known as Bonni Bee, made shocking comments about KayB after she revealed
that she was herself a victim of sexual assault.
Before
the latest season started, Shirley Adonisi,
M-Net director of local entertainment channels, said M-Net will do "devious things" to the new crop of contestants and "We're
experimenting with things never done before".
"We're determined to make them as uncomfortable as possible. We’re
really pushing the envelope. We'll test their intolerance to see how much they
can take without breaking any legal rules. The team has come up with devious
things."
On Wednesday M-Net waited for a produced made-for-TV moment to first showcase
KayB's eviction on DStv before responding to media about the sexual harassment
incidents that viewers have talked about since Tuesday.
Portia Hlongwane, M-Net spokesperson for Mzansi Magic, in response to a
media query made on Wednesday afternoon, only on Thursday morning confirmed that
KayB has been removed.
"In light of
a conversation in the Big Brother Mzansi house concerning Beekay who claimed
that he was physically violated by KayB, Big Brother investigated the matter
further as the safety of all housemates is of utmost importance".
"After
careful consideration, taking into account of the serious nature of the claim,
Big Brother has decided that KayB be disqualified from the Big Brother house.:
"This decision closely follows an educational session that was held with all the
housemates this past Sunday to raise awareness and instil knowledge about
gender-based violence."
"We have
always maintained that we do not condone any acts of gender-based violence and
as such we will be taking the corrective action."
"Furthermore,
due to the seriousness of this incident and the fact that the housemate in
question was in the voting round for elimination this week, voting for
housemates will be closed immediately to ensure fairness for all remaining
housemates."
M-Net
shied away from answering other questions.
M-Net was asked what it makes of the latest incident coming just days
after someone specifically told the contestants what not to do, why this
behaviour keeps happening and is being broadcast on DStv, and what brands like
LottoStar and Unilever have told M-Net about being associated and featuring
alongside unsavoury content.
M-Net declined to answer.
Big Brother Mzansi Umlilo is the fifth season under the Big Brother Mzansi moniker
and the 11th season overall of Big Brother South Africa done by
MultiChoice and M-Net in the country according to the Banijay format.
Big Brother Umlilo runs as a 24/7 channel on DStv with highlight programming on the Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) channel.
