Babes Wodumo and Mampintsha during the 23rd annual South African Music Awards ] ceremony at Sun City on May 27 2017. (Gallo Images/Sowetan/Veli Nhlapo)
Mandla “Mampintsha” Maphumulo handed himself over at Westville Police Station in Durban on Tuesday afternoon and remains in police custody. “I can confirm that a suspect has been arrested. We are hoping to charge him as soon as possible,” Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo told the Mail & Guardian.
According to Sakhile Langa, the spokesperson for the family of Bongekile Simelane (aka Babes Wodumo), Maphumulo handed himself over after the national police commissioner urged him to come forward.
“There is nothing we can say at the moment as the matter is sub judice,” Langa told the Mail & Guardian. “But we trust that the law will take its course”.
Maphumulo was wanted by police after a video showing him assaulting long-term partner Simelane went viral on social media late on Sunday evening.
Speaking at a short media briefing in Durban on Tuesday morning, Simelane’s parents thanked the South African public for their support. Simelane herself was not present at the briefing as she is currently receiving medical treatment after the incident, her parents said.