Kelly's story needs a sequel

There is something amiss about The Kelly Khumalo Story, Melinda Ferguson's book about the singer's life.

That is, if you're looking for any new personal revelations about the controversial 29-year-old.

Though it is a story that needs to be told about celebrity drug culture and its consequences, one can't help feeling that the book has been published six months too late.

Granted, it isn't intended to be a biography (it is more Ferguson's journey alongside a fellow recovering drug addict, interspersed with anecdotes from Khumalo's manager, Sarah Setlaelo), but readers might find themselves wanting more.

For those unaware of all the swirling rumours and ugly headlines that became Khumalo's life, the book chronicles them well, from the supposedly explicit photograph of her and her claims that she was a virgin (later disputed by an ex-lover) to her legal battles with Duma ka Ndlovu over the song Qinisela and her affair with kwaito star Speedy.

As features editor at True Love, Ferguson interviewed Khumalo for the magazine earlier this year. In the six-page cover story, Khumalo admitted she had been a drug addict for two years. The two women began attending Narcotics Anonymous together.

In the book, a lot of attention is given to rapper Molemo "Jub Jub" Maarohanye, with whom Khumalo had a tumultuous relationship.

She says that, in October last year, after their break-up, Maarohanye promised to be a better father to their son, Christian, and tried to visit him.

During one visit, Khumalo says, Maarohanye became so jealous when she moved to answer a phone call, convinced it was from a man, that he stormed out of the room.

"When he came back he tried to have sex with me and I refused," she said. "I told him we had broken up, things were over between us. He refused to accept this and kept trying. I pushed him away and then all hell broke loose. He pushed me back."

They began punching each other and he locked all the doors to prevent her from escaping, she told Ferguson.

"Next thing, he jumped on me and bit me in the face."

Pictures of her bruises made it onto magazine covers and tabloids.

Khumalo laid a charge of assault against Maarohanye and he tried to lay a counter-charge, saying she tried to run him over.

Maarohanye and Themba Tshabalala are on trial for murder, reckless driving and driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol after allegedly killing four boys while drag-racing in Soweto. A verdict is expected on Wednesday.