Podcast and Chill host MacGyver “MacG” Mukwevho has apologised to the family of the late Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo following remarks made about her death on the podcast.
Moselakgomo, a runner who went missing in Rhodesfield, Kempton Park, was later identified at the Germiston mortuary on 14 September. Her death has drawn renewed attention to concerns around violence against women in South Africa.
During a previous episode of Podcast and Chill, MacG and co-host Sol Phenduka made jokes about Moselakgomo’s disappearance and death. The comments were subsequently circulated on social media, where they drew widespread criticism.
Opening a later episode, MacG addressed the controversy and apologised for the remarks.
“I’m not trying to make an excuse for what we did. I mean, as broadcasters, myself and Sol, as seasoned broadcasters, we should have done better. We should. We know better. We do.”
He acknowledged that there was no appropriate source of humour in the circumstances surrounding Moselakgomo’s disappearance.
“Even apart from just the fact that she ended up being brutally murdered, just her missing, you know, it wasn’t nothing to find any source of humour from,” he said.
Phenduka had previously issued his own apology, describing his remarks as an “unfortunate pun or joke” and acknowledging the seriousness of making jokes about a missing person.
“I want to profusely apologise to South Africans, to chillers and to her family,” Phenduka said.
He also acknowledged the wider context of violence against women in South Africa, saying that making jokes about a missing-person case was distasteful and potentially traumatic.
The apologies followed criticism of the podcast remarks online, with social media users questioning the decision to make light of a case involving a woman who had gone missing and was later found dead.
