MCM, WCW & selfies in the lift: The year that AKA and Bonang finally stepped out

In September last year, DJ Zinhle lifted the lid on an alleged affair between her baby daddy AKA and TV host Bonang Matheba. The news made headlines across the country and caused a mini social media meltdown.

The scandal meant that both celebs had to keep any romance between them secret. But fast forward a year and a bit later, and the couple are madly in love and living their romance very much in the public eye.

It all kind of started in January when Bonang started posting images of herself with a mystery man on her social media accounts.

The pair later went on a baecation together but were cautious to not be pictured together- not that the Twitter detectives didn’t pick up on the clues that they were there together.

Speculation that her mystery man was AKA heated up in the weeks that followed, until the pair were snapped together at a Kevin Hart concert in Johannesburg.

It was only a few short weeks later that the couple confirmed their romance.

"Very happy"

In an interview with Slikour in April, Bonang revealed that she was "very happy" in her relationship with AKA. And from that moment on, there was a steady stream of Man Crush Monday and Woman Crush Wednesday tributes dedicated to each other. They also started posing for pictures together and spoke far more openly about their relationship.

By July, Bonang was flaunting all the expensive gifts her “king” had given her and the pair were appearing on national TV for a loved-up feature on Top Billing.

The rapper also told US radio host Sway Calloway that the couple had known each other for "a couple of years" but that she always knew he liked her.

"Basically, we had known each other for a couple of years and I was in a relationship, some things happened, and now we are together. She had always known that I kind of dug her.

You only have one life to live and if you love someone and you feel it and you really want to give it a go, you should take a shot man. If you got a shot, you gotta shoot it. At the end of the day, it's your life" he said.

‘I really want to be with you and I’m going to protect you'

A month later, Bonang revealed to YOU Magazine what it was that AKA had said when he asked her out.

“He said: ‘I really want to be with you and I’m going to protect you, I’m going to protect us and I’m going to fight for us because this is what I really, really want.’ From that moment on I was like, ‘this is my man – this is what I asked God for, a partner you appreciate and respect, somebody who respects you,’” she said.

But their fairy-tale romance was rumoured to have come crashing down a little over a month later, when Daily Sun ran a story about the pair getting into a fight over a picture AKA posted with Bonang’s supposed arch-nemesis Minnie Dlamini.

But the rumours were soon dispelled with a series of loved –up pics uploaded by the pair, which told the world they were doing just fine.

The rumours then swung to the other extreme, with claims that AKA had finally popped the question. Luckily, TshisaLIVE was there to clear the air, with sources telling us that they are happy in love but NOT engaged.

But who knows what 2017 will hold for the couple, perhaps wedding bells?