By Rorisang Modiba
- Former House of Zwide actress Shelati Sekhabi says fake pregnancy rumours spread online and strangers approached her believing the claims were true.
- Shelati Sekhabi says the posts felt violating and made her ask people to report false content about her body.
Shelati Sekhabi says false pregnancy rumours about her left her angry, violated and drained.
The former House of Zwide actress says the lies started online but soon followed her into real life. She says strangers began approaching her about claims that were not true.
Shelati shared her experience on her Instagram stories. She said she first chose not to respond because the rumours were false.
That changed when people she did not know started talking to her about them in public.
“I didn’t want to address this because there’s no truth to it, but so many people believe it. After several strangers came up to me about it, it got to a point,” she wrote.
She said what upset her most was knowing that someone deliberately created fake content about her.
“It’s extremely violating knowing that someone woke up and decided to create an image and a post about someone they don’t know, knowing it’s fake,” she wrote.
She asked her followers and the public to help stop the spread of the rumours. She urged people to report the posts responsible for the false claims.
She also thanked those who have shown her support.
Shelati rose to fame on the popular eTV soapie House of Zwide. In October 2025, she got engaged to her on screen husband, actor Wanda Zuma.
She joins other South African women who have had to deny pregnancy rumours online, including Miss South Africa 2015 Liesl Laurie Mthombeni, influencer Mihlali Ndamase and Miss South Africa 2019 Sasha Lee Olivier.
Pictured above: Shelati Sekhabi.
Image source: @shelatisekhabi
