The Wife series was on Mzansi’s Twitter top trends list. Many were in disbelief of what the main character Mqhele did to his wife, Hlomu. Females were disappointed, and some were triggered by their past abuse experienced at the hands of their partners.
In South Africa, over 20 to 40% of women have been physically abused by their male counterparts. Almost 50% have admitted to suffering financial and emotional abuse in their relationships.
Seeing scenes of abuse, like that of Mqhele beating Hlomu up, remind them of their pasts, their realities, the present and past realities of people they know, and it is a definite trigger.
Mqhele as a physically abusive husband
The Wife’s Deja Vu’s episode was not when Mqhele assaulted Hlomu. He has done it prior, and just like many men, he apologized and promised never to do it again.
What led Mqhele to assault Hlomu
In The Cost of Freedom episode, Hlomu goes out for drinks with her friends. One of the friends got a promotion thanks to Hlomu’s heads up, so they went out for drinks to celebrate. They all got very drunk after partying and slept over at one of the friend’s houses. At the time, Mqhele was home with his brothers calling Hlomu with her phone on voicemail. Mqhele was angry, but he kept his composure. Mqoqi, played by Thulane Shange, asked where Mqhele’s wife was, calmly saying she was busy.
In the episode Deja vu
Hlomu was home in the morning about to take a shower. She was happy, still singing a trending song from the night before. Mqhele massaged her shoulders and put hard pressure on them. Hlomu told him he was hurting her, and that’s when he started punching her back and stomach. She said, “Uthe angek’uphinde ungishaye” (you said you’d never hit me again). Mqhele pushed her to the floor and kicked her until she couldn’t walk upright. Hlomu crawled to the shower and wept; her husband came and picked her up with a towel to tuck her into bed. He apologized and kissed her cheek. After some bed rest, Hlomu walked to her car and drove herself to the hospital, and that was the end of the episode.