Penny Lebyane defends Mohale after lesson 'moemish'

TV and radio personality Penny Lebyane has defended actor Mohale Motaung amid a backlash over him teaching English to students online.

Since President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a 21-day lockdown last month to curb the spread of Covid-19, Mohale has been volunteering his services as an English teacher for grade 11 pupils online.

However a video of him teaching adjectives to a class went viral this week, with some criticising his explanations and examples.

His name dominated the Twitter trends list on Tuesday as fans weighed in on whether he should be teaching or not.

Penny stepped in to offer her support to the star, telling him that he is loved and “teaching more than just English”.

But fans weren't convinced and slammed Penny for “lying” to her friend. Others claimed she was being sarcastic.

Still, Mohale returned the love and made it clear that he was not here for the hate.

Both Mohale and Penny were among several celebrities slammed for participating in a lockdown digital school, aimed at helping students stuck at home.

The digital learning initiative, Free Stem Lockdown Digital School, started over the Easter weekend and has enlisted the help of local celebrities such as Enhle Mbali, Pearl Modiadie, Somizi and DJ Sbu.

The initiative, in partnership with the Sasol Foundation, focuses on science, technology, engineering and mathematics and is conducted through a virtual intelligence-based educational platform, Ms Zora.

In a statement on Twitter, Africa Teen Geeks said that only qualified teachers and student teachers were recruited for the programme, and celebrities were just part of a reading club for children between grades R and 3.

Penny also defended her participation in the project.