Our Perfect Wedding Loses Sponsorship Deal With ABSA
Absa has confirmed it has withdrawn its sponsorship of Mzansi Magic’s show, Our Perfect Wedding, with immediate effect. Absa says it will not be drawn on the reasons for the withdrawal, only confirming that it informed the channel this morning of the withdrawal of sponsorship. The show is produced by Connect TV, owned by businesswoman Basetsana Khumalo. Connect TV also produces Diski Divas and Date My Family.
While Mzansi Magic defended its decision to air an Our Perfect Wedding episode which glossed over the groom starting a sexual relationship with his wife when she was 14-years-old and he 28-years-old, a petition has been started by Cape Town resident Rethabile Makaonyane to have the channel stop airing the show.
The latest instalment of the show features a young woman who apparently met her husband when she was 14 and he was 28. The man admits to targeting school children for sex when he met his partner.
Viewers took to social media to slate the channel, accusing it of perpetuating ‘a culture of rape’in the episode, with many saying it condones statutory rape.
On Monday evening, ABSA took to Twitter to inform the public that it had withdrawn sponsorship, which was in the form of a R10,000 cheque to the bride and groom of each episode. The announcement came after Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng laid a formal complaint with the Broadcasting Complains Commission of South Africa.
