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Cape Town - Never, ever take pictures of yourself naked. They can come back to haunt you.
That's what Minister of Sport and Recreation Fikile Mbalula's ex-girlfriend, Joyce Omphemetse Molamu, found out the hard way after pictures of her in the nude were leaked this week.
In the images, Molamu and her best friend, Shirley Langa, are in a bedroom showing off their private parts and holding glasses of Champagne. In one of the pictures, a naked Molamu is shown taking selfies with her smartphone in the shower.
This week, she blamed ex-boyfriend Mandla Makhubedu for stealing the pictures from her phone. "The content on my phone is private and confidential," she fumed.
Molamu said Makhubedu had recently been released from prison and pleaded to meet up with her under the pretence that he needed some advice.
"He asked to use my phone. That could have been when he sent himself the pictures," she said.
Makhubedu told City Press he knew about the compromising pictures, but denied leaking them.
"My life is very sensitive. I just came out of jail. Why would I leak pictures when I know I'm featured in one of the pictures?" he asked, adding that this was going to "ruin his reputation".
"I'm a family man. I don't deserve this," he said.
Molamu said she was now in talks with lawyers to see what charges she could lay against him.
"This whole incident is very unfortunate and I apologise to everyone who might take offence. I have been living a very focused and private life, and I won't allow anyone to break me," she said.
Molamu claims the pictures were taken five years ago, although why she would have them on a new phone is unclear.
"We were just having fun. How people have their private fun is their own business. The problem is when their private fun comes out in the public domain," she said.
"For the past five years, I've been living a clean life and I'm about to finish my studies. Then this happens."
Molamu, a third-year law student, has been in a three-year relationship with a businessman. Asked whether her new man was in the limelight, she said: "No! He is just an ordinary guy."
Langa says she also regretted taking nude pictures: "This has taught me not to trust anyone. It's unfortunate that even the people we love can betray and disappoint us at times."
Molamu warns people to be careful.
"Unfortunately I've learnt the hard way. People need to be vigilant who they share their pictures with. I'm really not proud of this!"
