Sibongile Mashaba
Sibongile Mashaba
The Orlando magistrate's court yesterday dropped assault charges against former Generations and Backstage actor Mandla Hlatshwayo.
Hlatshwayo, 30. of Kibler Park, south of Johannesburg, was expected to plead to the charge but the complainant, Jeffery Pule, decided to withdraw the assault charges, leaving the court no option but to drop the case.
Known for his role as Siphiwe Phosa in the SABC1 soapie, Generations, Hlatshwayo was arrested on June 13.
Also a club DJ, he is alleged to have beaten a man who had asked him for a lift home.
Hlatshwayo was driving Pule and other acquaintances from work to home in Protea Glen, Soweto, early in the morning of June 10.
He stopped the car and accused Pule of sticking his hand into a woman passenger's bag.
Had he been convicted he would have been fined R60000 or three years' imprisonment, or both.