{"id":39961,"date":"2025-10-28T12:58:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T12:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=39961"},"modified":"2025-10-28T12:58:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T12:58:16","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignmapara-a-jazz-duo-returns-home-safely-after-alleged-kidnapping-in-ethiopia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2025\/10\/28\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignmapara-a-jazz-duo-returns-home-safely-after-alleged-kidnapping-in-ethiopia\/","title":{"rendered":"Mapara A Jazz duo returns home safely after alleged kidnapping in Ethiopia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"mvp-content-main\">&#13;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_187073\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-187073\" class=\"wp-image-187073 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mapara-A-Jazz-duo-returns-home-safely-after-alleged-kidnapping.jpg?resize=600%2C428&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"428\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mapara-A-Jazz-duo-returns-home-safely-after-alleged-kidnapping.jpg 600w, https:\/\/fakazanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mapara-A-Jazz-300x214.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-187073\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u2018John Vuli Gate\u2019 hitmakers allegedly kidnapped in Ethiopia<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Mapara A Jazz members Mano \u201cMan Malaya\u201d Nephawe and Leonard \u201cLenny\u201d Malatji are back in South Africa after what appears to have been a terrifying ordeal in Ethiopia.<\/p>\n<p>The popular Tshwane-based duo, known for their hit <em>John Vuli Gate<\/em>, were reportedly kidnapped while in Addis Ababa for a music gig.<\/p>\n<p>The musicians had travelled to perform at the Ade Music Fest, held at the Kana Warehouse on October 25.<\/p>\n<p>However, things took a frightening turn over the weekend when they vanished after a night out.<\/p>\n<p>Early on Sunday, October 27, they shocked fans with a distressing post on social media that read: \u201cCan someone help us? We are kidnapped in Ethiopia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hours later, the duo returned online with an update that brought relief to their supporters: \u201cWe\u2019re finally home! We\u2019re grateful to say that we are safely back home. We want to sincerely thank everyone who showed us love, concern, and support during this difficult time, from both Ethiopia and South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Nephawe was reportedly beaten during the incident, the pair did not go into detail about what exactly happened. Since their return, they\u2019ve maintained silence, possibly still processing the ordeal.<\/p>\n<p>South Africa\u2019s Head of Public Diplomacy, Clayson Monyela, told Sunday World that the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) only learned about the alleged kidnapping through social media posts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe matter was not reported to DIRCO. We were made aware of it on posts on social media. Then we jumped to try and make contact with the embassy. When we reached out, there was no case of a kidnapping that had been reported,\u201d Monyela explained.<\/p>\n<p>He added that once officials confirmed the duo\u2019s safe return to South Africa, the case fell under the jurisdiction of local police.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause they are home safe, the matter now becomes a SAPS matter. Police and legal authorities will meet with the musicians to investigate and find out what happened,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Monyela further clarified that had the artists still been held captive in Ethiopia, the South African Embassy would have intervened directly.<\/p>\n<p>For now, fans are simply relieved that Mapara A Jazz made it home safely after what seems to have been a harrowing experience abroad.<\/p>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 4 -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Mapara #Jazz #duo #returns #home #safely #alleged #kidnapping #Ethiopia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#13; \u2018John Vuli Gate\u2019 hitmakers allegedly kidnapped in Ethiopia Mapara A Jazz members Mano \u201cMan Malaya\u201d Nephawe and Leonard \u201cLenny\u201d&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39962,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39961"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39961\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39963,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39961\/revisions\/39963"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}