{"id":47549,"date":"2026-01-15T15:46:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T15:46:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=47549"},"modified":"2026-01-15T15:46:02","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T15:46:02","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignnaledi-aphiwe-reveals-her-romantic-relationship-with-mawelele-was-just-for-publicity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/01\/15\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignnaledi-aphiwe-reveals-her-romantic-relationship-with-mawelele-was-just-for-publicity\/","title":{"rendered":"Naledi Aphiwe reveals her \u201cromantic\u201d relationship with Mawelele was just for publicity"},"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_187002\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-187002\" class=\"wp-image-187002 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Naledi-Aphiwe-and-Mawelele-spark-buzz-with-surprise-reunion-after.jpg?resize=600%2C409&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"409\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Naledi-Aphiwe-and-Mawelele-spark-buzz-with-surprise-reunion-after.jpg 600w, https:\/\/fakazanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Mawelele-Naledi-Aphiwe-300x205.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-187002\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Naledi Aphiwe says romatic relationship with Mawelele is fake<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>South African singer Naledi Aphiwe has cleared the air about her supposed romantic relationship with fellow artist Mawelele, revealing that the connection was never real.<\/p>\n<p>The 19-year-old, who gained recognition after featuring on a Chris Brown track, told Sowetan on Thursday, 15 January 2026, that the so-called romance was purely a publicity strategy to promote their hit duet Romeo &amp; Juliet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was all publicity for our music, and I thank everyone for believing in it. So, yes, I\u2019m not, and never was, in a relationship with Mawelele. The only thing Mawelele would do was kiss me on the forehead, but that was it,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n<p>The clarification comes after fans were puzzled when the pair announced their breakup, especially after receiving praise for winning Best African Pop Song at the 2025 Metro FM Awards.<\/p>\n<p>Entertainment commentator Jabu McDonald previously shared the news of their award win on X, adding to the impression that the two were romantically involved.<\/p>\n<p>Aphiwe also revealed that both she and Mawelele are currently in relationships and felt it was important to be honest about the past.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s time we both respect our partners by coming clean,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>The young artist has had a promising start to 2026, beginning the year with a nomination for Best African Duo or Group in R&amp;B alongside Mawelele at the 9th All Africa Music Awards (Afrima), further cementing her growing presence in the industry.<\/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#Naledi #Aphiwe #reveals #romantic #relationship #Mawelele #publicity<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#13; Naledi Aphiwe says romatic relationship with Mawelele is fake South African singer Naledi Aphiwe has cleared the air about&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39623,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47549","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\/47549","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=47549"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47550,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47549\/revisions\/47550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}