He was blacklisted and labelled a misogynist after making derogatory statements about women having children out of wedlock. Umkhokha: The Curse actor Kininonke 'Kini' Shandu labelled those women as shameful to their families. The actor suffered much backlash and activists wanted his head. But Kini has since apologised and returned with the sixth edition of the Sebenza Women's Awards, a platform aimed at celebrating women.

LESSON LEARNED!

In a Facebook post that has since been deleted, Kini said that women who have children out of wedlock bring shame to their families and should not be asked for a hand in marriage. "You cannot take a woman with two or three children and put them in your home, thinking they will build you a home as a man,' he wrote.

He went on to say that no one should marry a woman with children from a previous relationship. These utterances led him to be suspended by the Sebenza Women's Awards board members. "Mr. Kininonke Shandu will be treated as a first-time offender for bringing the name of the Sebenza Women Awards into disrepute, which means that we are not going to cancel or fire him from the executive,' the board members said in a statement. "However, he now does have a disciplinary file against him and will be cancelled only this year from participating in the Sebenza Women Awards," the board said in a statement.

DEMOTED

The awards are set to make a comeback despite the negative criticism. Kini told ZiMoja that he learned his lesson, humbly apologised and started on a clean slate. "Sometimes we forget the power of social media but that chapter is closed and I took full accountability," Kini said. As a form of punishment, he was suspended and also donated sanitary pads to girls and issued a 30-second video apology. It was also reported that the awards lost two major sponsors, BMW and Ocean Mall, which Kini has since denied. "We did not lose any major sponsors; that was just irresponsible reporting from whoever wrote that,' he said. "There were many lies that were reported around the matter. But I took accountability and to add to that, I was demoted by the board.' Kini is now no longer hands-on and his project manager post has been replaced by Gugu Mandonsela. "It only makes sense to have a strong, powerful woman on the front line. We are happy to be back and to be able to award women who are making a difference in our country and I am glad to still be part of the awards despite my demotion," he added.