As politicians scurried to douse the fire in the wake of explosive claims by their love flame Lerato “Habiba” Makgatho, she seemed oblivious to the drama unfolding in her wake.
The dramatic slay queen, whose highlight is dating two ministers at the same time, used the public focus on her to address the nation on her acting and music ventures, her tiger Gwede Mantashe – but also seemed to backtrack on Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s performance in bed.
Relishing her new-found centre stage, she said Mboweni is capable of six rounds – a claim roundly rejected on social media. But who is Makgatho and how did she end up dating two ministers at a go when other slay queens struggle with MECs and MMCs?
The Miss Winterveld 2012 has – for the past three years – been in the news for her dramatic love triangles with Mzansi’s faves and her suspected staged appearances on local reality shows.
Makgatho, from Ga-Rankuwa, north of Pretoria, made top news last week after spilling the beans on her blesser-blessee relationships with Mantashe, the mineral resources and energy minister and Mboweni.
She spoke gloriously of Mantashe, saying he gave her more money and lasted longer during sex than the finance minister, who is allegedly traditional in bed and prefers bonking in the dark. But that was not the first time the slay queen was in the news.
She was first noted for dating celebrities when her ex-boyfriend Kgothatso Motaung informed Sowetan of her relationship with the Nyan Nyan presenter, Luyanda Potwana, in 2014.
The relationship ended in shambles as the model alleged that the relationship with the public figure was no longer a safe space.
In 2016, she made an appearance on SABC2’s Mokapelo.
On the show, the 26-year-old emotionally spoke of how her absent father, who dumped her mother while pregnant, would pass by her school with beautiful cars but not maintain her on a monthly basis.
She also confessed that her life was without plan and needed her self-esteem and confidence to be boosted.
The flamboyant Makgatho claimed her life was better after the show and promised to make the best out of her life.
However, she made another appearance on Mzansi Magic’s Please Step In where she was seen asking for forgiveness after fighting her mother over her disorganised life.
She then made a dramatic appearance on Mzansi Magic’s Uyang’thanda Na in March 2017, and confessed her slay queen life, as she claimed the man who dragged her to the show could not afford her lifestyle.
But that’s not all, she went back on her word and French-kissed her crusher Kagiso Mokone.
“Nothing is as confusing like a guy who is young, handsome, with a sixpack but is broke and the other guy who is fat, but has money and is ugly,” she said on the show.
The relationship went mute and she was again under the media spotlight after she was caught in a love triangle with her friend Princess Sadiki and the former Orlando Pirates defender Ayanda Gcaba last year.
The two friends fought outside Taboo nightclub after nudes and salacious WhatsApp messages between Makgatho and Gcaba were exposed on Twitter.
Speaking to Sunday World last year, the aspirant actor claimed the footballer had lost interest in Sadiki and found her to be more attractive, but the friend claimed that Makgatho made the first move on Gcaba.
It was at this point when Sadiki hinted to the media about Makgatho’s blesser-blessee relationship with the two prominent ANC members.
Karma took control and Makgatho was seen on Moja Love’s Rea Tsotella reality show locking horns in a brawl with her other friend over Mokone, who she met earlier on Uyang’thanda Na reality TV show.
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni allegedly met slay queen Lerato “Habiba” Makgatho on social media.
Sunday World can reveal that Makgatho’s relationship with Mboweni started on Facebook after the struggling actress and model wished the finance minister a happy birthday.
That innocent birthday wish later led to inbox messages, with Mboweni allegedly inviting her to come and sing for him.
These details were confirmed by Makgatho in an interview with Sunday World last week. She said she met Mboweni in March 2018 and, at the time, she had told herself that she had “hit a jackpot”.
She said she felt safe about their relationship because it was discreet as they always met at Mboweni’s apartment in Killarney, Johannesburg. The only issue about her dalliance with Mboweni was that they only saw each other every two months.
The young actress first met Gwede “Tiger” Mantashe while waiting for Mboweni at the Sheraton Hotel in Pretoria, where she and Mboweni were to have dinner. In the interview, Makgatho told Sunday World that Mantashe came to her table and complemented her on her beauty.
She said the “Tiger” later gave her his business card and told her to contact him on WhatsApp so they could talk. She said when she met Mantashe, she did not know who he was as he was not loud like other politicians.
Makgatho said after dating the two ministers for a few months, she started suspecting that they were close and could know she was two-timing them.
She said Mantashe later confronted her and told her he could not share her with Mboweni. “I then decided to end my relationship with Tito, and I started dating Gwede alone.” The ministers decided not to comment
-Sunday world
