Presenter Molemo “Jub Jub” Maarohanye has been fired by Moja Love for alleged offensive behaviour that has landed the channel in the media for all the wrong reasons.
According to Citypress, Maarohanye went too far in December after allegedly wrecking its relationship with one of its funders, the Bakgatla-ba-Kgafela tribal community.
This came after he was accused of causing the cancellation of the Moses Kotane Arts Festival, which is organised by Moja Love, and threatening to harm business partner Keabetswe Mokoena, which culminated in a court case.
He appeared in the Rustenburg Magistrates’ Court in North West on Wednesday.
It is also understood that this was not the first time the Uyajola 99 television show host was shown the door.
In December 2021, he was allegedly fired and later reinstated following his legal team’s intervention because of a controversial interview he conducted with media personality Macgyver Mukwevho on YouTube channel Podcast and Chill With MacG, which was aired on Channel O.
In the interview, which went viral, Maarohanye talked about his former lovers using derogatory terms.
He also claimed that songstress Kelly Khumalo had lured him away from popular presenter and actor Amanda du-Pont, and he gave unflattering details about those relationships.
This time, however, Maarohanye seems to have run out of luck, as it is understood that he was asked to leave Moja Love two weeks ago.
He was informed that the channel would not be renewing his contract when it ends on March 18.
However, the popular presenter is set to challenge his dismissal this week, as his lawyer, Ntsako Baloyi of Baloyi-Ntsako Attorneys, has indicated that Maarohanye has directed him to file an application to overturn his boss’ decision in the Johannesburg High Court tomorrow.
Baloyi confirmed that his client had been fired from the channel through an email he received after challenging its CEO Aubrey Tau’s decision to withhold his payment for last month.
Baloyi said:
It’s not clear why he was dismissed. It’s unfortunate that he wasn’t paid his salary for January. When we enquired about it and demanded that he be paid, we received a letter stating that he had been let go.
“We’re in the process of approaching the high court and we don’t want to discuss details at the moment.”
A senior source at the channel told City Press that Maarohanye had been informed of his dismissal two weeks ago, also through a letter.
This had been triggered by Maarohanye’s dissatisfaction with Tau’s decision to withhold last month’s salary as punishment for the matter involving Mokoena.
“They didn’t want to fire him at first. They gave him the option of apologising to the woman who was organising the Moruleng event with him, when they withheld his salary last month.
That event was held in Moruleng, where the Bakgatla-ba-Kgafela are based. They’re the primary funders of Siyaya TV [which owns Moja Love], so those guys called Tau personally, asking him to intervene because Jub Jub was disrespecting their people and had insulted a young woman who was from the area and had spat in their faces,” said the source.
In December, Mokoena told City Press that she had instructed her lawyers, Munyai Tshilidzi Attorneys, to instigate a lawsuit and a protection order against Maarohanye after the failure of the music festival.
She alleged that the Ndikhokhele hitmaker had sent her WhatsApp voice notes, threatening to kill her and disrupt her business.
She added that he had hurled insults at her by calling her a “bitch” and referring to her mother’s genitals in a WhatsApp group.
The source said that Tau had initially tried to show leniency to Maarohanye – because of his popularity – by docking his monthly salary rather than firing him.
“However, Jub Jub ran to his lawyers and made matters worse for himself by insisting that he receive his January salary. Tau was annoyed by the language and tone Baloyi used in his letter to him, in which he wrote that Moja Love was being run like a spaza shop.
Baloyi also wrote that he didn’t understand why Jub Jub’s salary hadn’t been paid because of a dispute that wasn’t linked to his work at Moja Love,” said the source.
City Press has seen email correspondence between the Bakgatla-ba-Kgafela traditional council’s chairperson Kgosi John Pilane and Tau, in which the channel’s CEO expressed his disappointment in Maarohanye.
Part of an email read:
I’ve received a call from Keabetswe regarding the behaviour of Jub Jub. He’s a very difficult and ill-disciplined person to work with. He doesn’t respect the agreement of contracts. I don’t talk to him a lot, as I don’t like ill-disciplined people … I think he needs help, but he’s the only one who can help himself.
By the time of going to print, Tau had not responded to requests for comment.
City Press understands that new Moja Love sensation and Maarohanye’s former bodyguard, Xolani “Mr X” Maphanga of the popular X-Repo show, has been tipped to replace the singer on Uyajola 99.
Moja Love head of channels Bokani Moyo said: “Jub Jub is an independent contractor and therefore cannot be dismissed, as he is not a permanent employee of the channel.
“Moja Love is also not at liberty to discuss the contents of his contract, as it is confidential and of a privileged nature.”
– Citypress
