Nirvana Nokwe-Mseleku questions Bomb Productions’ probe

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:01]All right, thanks for staying with us.

[00:00:03]The safety and the dignity of women on South African film sets is under intense scrutiny following a high-profile dispute between two prominent actors.

[00:00:13]This week, an internal probe by Bomb Productions concluded that there was insufficient evidence to substantiate allegations of sexual misconduct which were raised by actress Naledi Nokukhanya Kgomotso against her former co-star Bongani Khumalo during the 2023 filming of the Showmax series Red Ink. Now, while Khumalo has vehemently denied the claims, calling the allegations deeply painful and legally disproven, industry advocacy body Swift has backed the actress, uh praising her for her courage to speak out. The fallout has ignited a massive industry-wide debate over safety protocols, power dynamics, and whether current mechanisms truly protect a performers when the cameras are roll.

[00:01:00]Joining us now is uh the lady in question, and that is Naledi Nokukhanya Kgomotso. Naledi, thank you very much for your time.

[00:01:10]Look, let's start with the conclusion of that internal investigation by Bomb Productions. Uh they've gone on to state that they found insufficient evidence to substantiate your allegations of sexual misconduct. What's your reaction to these findings?

[00:01:26]Um it's quite uh disappointing because uh within the investigation, they did not question me at all.

[00:01:35]Um and uh they didn't even question some of the crew on set who you know, by the grace of God, um because of how viral this has gone, um some people have reached out to me in other cities who work within the film and TV industry and have said that people have come forward and said um that they witnessed what happened on the set. So, I don't know how you people investigate themselves, number one. I think it should be a third disinterested party.

[00:02:09]Um and I also don't know how you uh investigate something when the person who has undergone the assault is also not questioned.

[00:02:22]Um so, it I think initially their commitment was to basically facilitate the apology, uh the written apology, because the one that he made on set after it happened was um it displayed a very um entitled attitude and and and I and I felt it was important that for my own healing as well as for his and as well as for repair, um that he acknowledge it in writing. Um and and really just to have a think about what he did. Um but that none of that has happened. So, yes, it it's quite disappointing. Yeah. Now, Vatiswa, you speak about cause some cast members uh being quite supportive of you, but 3 years have passed and now that's crew members um 3 years have passed since then and now there's this report by the Bomb Productions. What are they saying now?

[00:03:23]Uh who? Bomb >> The the crew the crew members who were in support of you. Do you still have the same Do you still enjoy the same support that you did then?

[00:03:32]No, I think you know, largely from sets uh like people are quite segregated. So, I I I I will say that like when I shot the show, I only had two calls.

[00:03:46]So, that was my last day and then I had no contact with anybody. There's a lot of people whose names I don't know.

[00:03:54]Um Um so, it's just one of those things where the the people who saw it happen have just spoken to other people, and those people have come to me, and I have reached out to those people to see if um they'd be willing to talk about what it is that they saw with me, just to have it in writing. Um and we'll see if they're comfortable with that. Uh because it is important that if they're claiming that an investigation was done, why isn't the crew questioned adequately, you know?

[00:04:29]Um so, I'm receiving support from my community at this at the moment, and um I'm sorry. I'm I'm actually quite triggered just cuz I'm on a Zoom call, and I'm I'm looking at the show play as we're talking. Um but, I'm receiving a lot of um support from my community, and uh I genuinely believe co-regulating the industry and and creating a third independent body to regulate the industry, because when people are in powerful positions, and they hold conflicting uh roles, right? And if something like this occurs, like violation, they're most likely to protect themselves. And And because of the attitudes of South Africa towards violation of any kind, whether it's towards women or men, um we we're in trouble when we uh we we we we look at uh accountability as an expensive issue.

[00:05:30]And that's the issue with a lot of our attitudes in South Africa. And if people listen to the recording um of when I was instructed or encouraged, rather, by the production company to go to the cops, which was 8 months later, when they, you know, were, I guess, in a sublime way withdrawing their commitment to facilitate the apology, it shows, even with the police, that we are not in sync with the the definition of sexual assault. We're not in sync with our understanding of the law, and it's just one of those things where South African citizens now just need to come together and figure out how are we going to protect each other and and create systems of of governance and education um in such a climate because as much as we can say that our leadership is failing us, um we are the people on the ground that can actually also make a change, and I'm very excited with the fact that AI has now come into the picture in such an incredible way because we can now begin to build these decentralized systems of governance um in an almost unbiased way.

[00:06:46]So, the support has been incredible from people from the industry because they know what's happening, and as well as my community.

[00:06:58]Nirvana, you I mean you speak about um wanting to see a third independent body being set up and the sort of conflict of interest that uh um people who hold high positions in the industry then have also sitting on boards which are meant to be independent. Uh talk to us uh about that. Yeah, I remember you saying that you had been advised uh to take action, but also cautioned at the same time to say you may never work again uh should you take this up.

[00:07:29]Yes, so I was advised so in instances like what I've gone through, right? Um we there's there's of course an independent body called Swift, right? And of course that that body um consists of many people who have contributed their time and efforts to ensuring that um there is some form of safety and accountability within the industry uh with regards to sexual harassment and and just equity um in terms of how how we access opportunities, but the unfortunate thing is that um at the time and I won't mention her name um there was a lady who commissioned a show that that I had done previously who was also co-founder of the organization, right? And she explicitly told me that if I report this matter to Swift, which I had already reported to Swift um that you know I wouldn't work, and she was right, you know? And I and I and I can't say and and conclude for for sure why I wouldn't work. I don't know if it was like an an effort to silence me or if it was because of the attitudes that we have with regards to uh sexual assault. So, she was commissioning editor at the local media company which commissioned the shows or the the the show that I was on previously but she also had influence with regards to the show that I had been cast on where the violation took place.

[00:09:10]And she advised me to not report it to the the in the to Swift. So, it's just one of those things where then you don't know where to go when people are telling you to stand up and fight for yourself on set, and they also don't understand what the dynamics are. I've had DOPs tell me go to Swift, you know, men telling me go to Swift, and I'm and I don't even know how to tell them that hey, the the biggest boss is telling me that I will never work if I do go to Swift. So, I I I it's it's it's it's sad and it's tragic, and people have learned to negotiate with oppression, you know. Um and and so that's that's that's what it is and and and that's why this third independent disinterested party is important. Mhm.

[00:09:59]All right. Uh several things there. Uh you This is something that you studied for, that you once had a passion uh to do, right? And how has all of what has unfolded so far affected your career? What will you do going forward? Uh and but just to make a note that Swift in fact did release a statement saying that they support you and that uh you know, they are backing and praising your courage to speak out.

[00:10:26]So, the irony that one thing would be said to you in private and then a whole statement be taken out to say that they are backing you.

[00:10:36]And I I can understand why they would make a statement saying that they back me because um the people who contribute their time to Swift are not a monolith, right? So, for example, Umam Khumalo who was the safety officer who was meant to facilitate the apology.

[00:10:57]Um and the production company first of course we we requested a written apology, and then they requested us to compromise on a mediated meeting with a safety officer from Swift. Um she was incredibly supportive and um Ah, excuse me.

[00:11:20]Excuse me. Take your time. Uh we understand that this is a an emotional uh conversation and quite triggering as well.

[00:11:28]Yeah, excuse me. Um >> [snorts] >> she was incredibly supportive and she stood up for me in meetings that I was not I guess privy to being a part of even though my co-star was privy to being a part of and she stood up for me and she would say that you know women are going to speak out and and and it's going to happen and so I think even in her position I think there's there's things that you know there's limitations to what you can do in a situation especially when the general consensus is to silence this from people who are hiring people right it's when it's the people who are hiring people saying keep it hush it's it's very problematic so I I I don't blame Swift for coming out with um a statement saying that they support me I believe that there are people who support me in Swift I just think that um it's just not we're not inspecting ourselves so much enough we're not inspecting the the conflicts in our interest enough and and that's where the contradiction starts to happen where the people that we're working with in these organizations have conflicting ideas about what justice and accountability looks like because they have to preserve their personal interest so I I really do appreciate Swift's because the their intention is this right I appreciate Swift's support and and again this is a part of accountability so they can support me or members of Swift can support me and I and I can still hold the organization or individuals accountable by speaking out and saying this is what I experienced from an organization that should have protected me >> clarify this I mean you say that Gugulethu was present and she was a safety officer there. The production house as well as Bongani Khumalo have both described the scene as scripted.

[00:13:40]Everyone would be fully clothed and where the safety officer would be there and she was there. You verify that from your perspective.

[00:13:50]She was not on set there.

[00:13:53]No, she was she was only present for the mediation.

[00:13:57]>> I see.

[00:13:57]>> She was Yes, she she was only present to facilitate the mediation. So, I had I think one or two meetings with her where she requested me to compromise on the mediated meeting and then it never Um However, there was a stunt double, right? And this the swimmer would come in your place for those who don't understand what a stunt double is.

[00:14:22]But you refused that the the stunt double do your scene. Why is that?

[00:14:29]So, so two things that I think are important to note. I refused the stunt double to do my co-star's portion of the scene because she was visibly pregnant.

[00:14:42]Um quite visibly pregnant. So, she was not going to be able to be pushed over the carbon it's on her stomach. And there was a real knife on set and I just wanted to be proactive because the the violation already occurred um when I had refused the stunt double. So, when my co-star said he's not comfortable to continue doing it with me um and he he would prefer the stunt double.

[00:15:11]They had a meeting and I was taken away and then they called it rap for the night. So, we didn't continue shooting on that day.

[00:15:20]Um so, I just wanted to clarify that to people because I think people um I don't know. I think people are trying to and this is not everyone. There's a lot of people who are trying to use that this angle to discredit me, but um the the particular shot where the violation occurred was on my close-up, right? So, the violation occurred um and then I confronted my co-star and then he apologized, then we were called back to the floor. He apologized in front of people and then he said he would prefer to do it with the stunt double and I I offered because I said as long as he understands not to do that again because the woman is pregnant. She's not going to be able to be pushed over the cabinets at all.

[00:16:11]Did the production house ever explain why they would cast a heavily pregnant woman to play your stunt double?

[00:16:19]Particularly, you know, for all the concerns that you have raised, surely all of those would have crossed their minds as well.

[00:16:26]I think I think it was negligence and I think that's why no none of them are addressing the fact that there was a pregnant stunt double onset because that's a it's like how do you get that wrong and who got that wrong and who's held accountable and why are there so many things going wrong on a particular set and I think that um when receiving support to do a production, when being commissioned to do production, you're accountable to a lot of people and time is money and so I think people are just incredibly anxious all the time because they're trying to number one save money and and secondly, they're also being held accountable for everything that happens on the set. So, it is one of those things where even the people holding the production accountable are also having their conflicting interests because their interest is in having a good show, right? A good product, but in a cost-effective way. Um so, it's just negligence. They have never addressed why they had a pregnant stunt double to this day in none of the correspondence when I mentioned it, not even on set. I don't know how it was addressed um on set amongst themselves, but yeah, that's that's Yeah, that's why they're not talking about it.

[00:17:53]>> Yeah. Yeah, and and wait too Nona, but I know I asked you this earlier, but what do you do now if not act?

[00:18:03]Well, well, right now I'm focused on creating an app uh for the music sector to basically um miti- like of course even in music that we're struggling with regulation, right?

[00:18:16]Because I am musician, I DJ, um and I was raised within the arts. So, split sheets is a very big issue within the uh the the music industry. So, I have developed an app called Roll Out Operating System and it's coming out within the next 2 weeks and it's basically to help independent artists as well as managers and management teams and um stakeholders within the music industry to be able to regulate um how we get split sheets and how we negotiate um the different percentages in music. I genuinely believe in regu- regulating the industry and um this is something that I'm passionate about and I also made the proposal of co-regulating the industry in 2023 um and now it's becoming even more relevant and I think with technologies uh with AI we can even develop that idea even better. Um so, I'm very excited because I believe in self-sovereignty sovereignty and so I genuinely feel like with technology such as AI, we can begin to actually regulate the industry in a way that is current and relevant to how quickly life is moving, but at the same time like addressing the real issues within um, the power dynamics within this the the the creative sector.

[00:19:37]And then, yeah, and then I have a project coming out called Don't Get DJ um, this year and I'm very excited for people to listen to it as well.

[00:19:48]All right, Ntsiki, thank you so much for I guess you know conjuring up the strength to to speak to us about something so sensitive. Thank you very much and all the best