By: Natasha Archary
In her victim impact statement on Tuesday, 05 March Basetsana Kumalo shared how the last 6-years has been a living nightmare for her and her family, following author Jackie Phamotse’s debaucherous 2018 tweet.
Basetsana took to the stand at the Randburg Magistrates Court to detail how the lives of her and her family have been negatively impacted by the “diabolical lie” of a sex tape about her husband and father to her 3 children, Romeo Kumalo.
In September 2023, the Kumalo’s won their defamation case against Phamotse, who was found guilty of two counts of crimen injuria, one of criminal defamation, and one count of contempt of court.
Following the verdict on their case against Phamotse, the Kumalo’s released a statement sharing their relief that the ordeal can finally be put behind them.
However, on Tuesday Basetsana shared an emotional recount of how traumatic the past almost 6-years has been for her and her family, who were forced to leave their Johannesburg home and move to Cape Town because of the ridicule they were subjected to.
“The last 6-years have been a living nightmare. I had to go for therapy for the trauma and I am still in therapy.
This is while raising our kids, whose innocence had been yanked away from them.
As a mother it has been painful to watch and I have suffered great trauma because of these crimes. I felt violated and attacked and at times, even though her tweet had not been true, I was ashamed to show my face in public.
Her tweet made me look like a woman with no values, principles and morals, and being an elder at church did not make this any easier.
In December 2020, we had to move from our home in Kyalami, Gauteng to Cape Town because we just could not stand to see the pain that our children had been going through, so we attempted to try and provide them with as normal a life as possible, annonymity and a peace of mind.
To add insult to injury, the so-called ‘sex video’ which Ms Phamotse in this very box that I am standing in under cross examination confirmed that it does not exist clearly a figment of her imagination, which was supposedly shot in our home, where we are raising three children.
What an insult to us and our children to be portrayed that their parents have no morals.”
Basetsana Kumalo in her victim impact statement
Sentencing in the Kumalo’s defamation case against Jackie Phamotse has been postponed to 26 March.
Also read: Tol Ass Mo and Mome on what their separation taught them
