DJ, fierce mommy and activist — the rise of Sithelo Shozi

Though Sithelo Shozi frequently shot up trends list with trolls coming for her in previous years, 2022 was the year she managed to have many tweeps change their tune about her.

The socialite and DJ is a mother to three children — her firstborn son from her previous relationship with Makhosini Maseko, aka Lord Phil, and her two daughters with Royal AM chairperson Andile Mpisane, now married to Tamia Mpisane.

Her relationship with ex-boyfriend Andile has put her life under the microscope. And this was even more so this year after tweeps frantically tried to work out the time span of Sithelo and Andile's relationship when news broke in March that Andile had married Tamia and the pair were expecting their first child.

The news broke just as tweeps were fawning over snaps of Andile and Sithelo, who had been spotted together on many occasions in public.

Sithelo chose silence when Andile got hitched, but that approach lasted only a few weeks. When she finally broke her silence in August she dropped a bombshell: she had allegedly suffered abuse at the hands of MaMkhize's son.

Sithelo partnered with the NPO Women For Change to raise awareness about gender-based violence and started a petition to be granted a protection order for the safety of herself and children.

Sithelo released a petition which speedily garnered thousands of signatures. 

Shauwn “Mam'Khize” Mkhize, vehemently rejected the abuse allegations in a statement shared on her social media.

“I would like to categorically state that neither myself nor my family have been witness to any alleged abuse against Sithole and further [would] like to highlight that these allegations are false and defamatory,” the statement read.

Sithelo has stood firm in her statement against the father of her two children, regardless of speculation that she had taken a R20m bribe to refrain from speaking out about the matter.

Amid all the drama, Sithelo rewarded herself with a new body. She got a Brazilian butt lift and liposuction at The Clinique Istanbul in Turkey.

“I wish we’d retract the surgery stigma we seem to pass on. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with giving yourself a makeover. It’s each to their own when it comes to such after three children. This was the best decision and best reward I could’ve given myself,” she wrote.