Cape Town — Multi-award winning musician Jabulani Hadebe, also known as Sjava, will not be prosecuted for rape.
The popular rapper was accused of rape by his ex-girlfriend, fellow musician Lady Zamar. She had opened a case in 2017, saying that the incident happened at a hotel in Thohoyondou, Limpopo after a concert. She also said Sjava was emotionally and sexually abusive.
Lady Zamar opened a case of rape at a Limpopo police station but NPA Spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi said that there is "no concrete evidence" to arrest Sjava and charge him with rape.
Sjava had denied the rape allegations. In a statement he released addressing the allegations, he apologised for "the hurt" he caused her.
Fans of Sjava have now flooded social media requesting that Lady Zamar be sued for defamation of character and damages to his career. Sjava lost out on two nominations, his shows were canceled and he lost TV acting gigs because of the rape charges.
@geezybeatz145 - Sjava should now open a case a against Lady Zamar for ruining his reputation & also for the damages that case has done for his career. Like & Retweet if you agree that Sjava must sue Lady Zamar
@Simtho_Biyela - Sjava is a very humble soul but because of what is happening in the society GBV, human trafficking and all that most people stood with Lady Zamar But I'm glad that God fought for him through out, Sjava 's case is thrown out ...
@Hangwela - So since Sjava had been found innocent are we going to cancel lady zama or only male artists get cancelled?
@KhandaniM - This has been running for 3 yrs? Sjava 's life has been disrupted for 36 months? The damage is severe, hope he has the courage to start working again.
However, some people have come to Lady Zamar's defense.
@AbongileNomand - I think we should all understand that ruled out doesn't mean innocent but various reasons like insufficient evidence... Sizwe once said we must all try to learn and understand the law
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
@MxmHer - LLB Twitter when a case is thrown out of court does it mean the person is not guilty? Or there isn't enough proof to prosecute? Also does it mean Lady Zamar lied? Did the rape happen?
@SneKhumaloSA - I don't even want to enter lendaba ka Sjava no Lady Zamar. There's too many unknowns.. Rape is such an emotive topic. Only they know what happened 3 years ago. Some sh!t doesn't make sense but speculating is a waste of time. Hope Sjava and Lady Zamar move on with their lives..
@siyamnzimande - I don't know. Lack of evidence doesn't necessarily mean x didn't happen, especially with such cases. So in this case, rather invest energy on supporting/helping Sjava get back on his feet. If he feels strongly about getting back at Lady Zamar, he will.
