Former SA Idols judge Mara Louw has handed Hlaudi Motsoeneng the proverbial wooden mic by telling him in a series of WhatsApp messages that she wants nothing to do with his new political party.
In text messages which The Star has seen, the renowned performer told Motsoeneng that she will pay back the money she borrowed from him after falling on hard times recently.
She added that her attorneys were drafting a letter to the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) to be removed as a parliamentary candidate for the African Content Movement (ACM).
Louw was placed second behind Motsoeneng, the organisation’s founding president, on the party’s parliamentary list, which was gazetted on the IEC’s official website two weeks ago.
Her U-turn on Motsoeneng came a few days after her alleged affiliation to ACM was made public, but now she wants none of it.
“I’m afraid I cannot be part of your political journey. Please find it in your heart to understand. I cannot do this. Thank you for assisting me. I will return the money.
“After serious consideration I realised that I (had) made a terrible mistake. When asked for your assistance I didn’t think I might be asked to join your party,” Louw wrote to Motsoeneng last week.
This comes as Motsoeneng was snubbed by the SABC, which refused to broadcast ACM’s Durban manifesto launch live.
Other well-known artists like Blondie Makhene showed their support for the party in court, while a few hundred people attended the party’s manifesto launch held at a visibly empty stadium on the same day.
Motsoeneng said on Friday he could comment on the issue only after the manifesto launch on Saturday.
The former SABC chief operations officer, however, said Romeo Ramuada, the party’s secretary-general, would comment on his and the party’s behalf.
Ramuada said Louw was nominated by the ACM’s structures because of her contribution to society.
He said he believed the veteran entertainer was scared of being ostracised by the ANC and “losing out on lucrative opportunities”.
“We don’t have a problem if Mara Louw feels that she wants to withdraw her nomination, she can just write a letter and resign,” Ramuada said.
“I feel like she is not living her life. She is being deprived of choosing where she wants to go and what she wants to do.
“That’s why South Africa needs to accept the fact that, as a democratic country, people have the right to join the political party of their choice,” he added.
In her text message to Motsoeneng, Louw said she was afraid of “jumping ship” from the ANC, which she said was her political home since childhood, adding this could cost her career and her standing in the community.
Source: IOL
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