Author Melinda Ferguson, who has branded herself “South Africa’s most-hated woman,” has been encouraged to press criminal charges against trolls who threatened to her over her book When Love : The Tragic Tale of AKA and Anele Tembe.
The book, which has officially hit bookstores around South Africa – documents the couple’s rollercoaster romance and both their untimely deaths.
Melinda has been criticised on social media over the “timing” of the release, which comes amid Anele’s inquest and AKA or Kiernan Forbe’s murder trial.
MELINDA FERGUSON ADVISED TO PRESS CHARGES AGAINST TROLLS
Speaking to the Citizen, Melinda Ferguson revealed that the response from her book When Love Kills had been overwhelming.
But with the good came the bad…and the trolls.
She said: “While I got love and support, I also got a lot of hate and even death threats from people saying they were coming for me. ‘You better get bodyguards.’ I even got tagged on the Gcaba taxi page, where someone said, ‘You should take care of this woman’”.
Speaking to EWN, Melinda even branded herself “South Africa’s most-hated woman”.
In a Facebook post over the weekend, the award-winning author revealed she had been legally advised to press charges against those who threatened her.
Author Melinda Ferguson has defended her book about Anele Tembe and AKA. Images via Instagram: @akaworldwide/ Facebook: Melinda Ferguson
She posted: “ I honestly don’t have the time or energy right now. But the laws in our country are strict and clear when it comes to cyber-sulting…
“Ironically, this very toxic ‘ninja keyboard’ mentality is deeply interrogated in my new book. I even venture to say in When Love Kills that social media played a hand in the death of AKA and Anele. I am fascinated to see how it’s playing out right here on this timeline.
Amid the backlash this week, Melinda Ferguson hinted that there was an “agenda” at play.
She posted: “To understand what’s going on. It’s in the vested interest of some to discredit me. I get why people are angry, but I am standing firm in truth”.
FROM REEVA AND OSCAR TO ANELE TEMBE AND AKA
When Love Kills, about Anele Tembe and AKA, is one of many celebrity books written by Melinda Ferguson.
In 2012, Melinda penned the biography The Kelly Khumalo Story about the controversial singer’s “fall from grace, disastrous relationships with men and addiction to cocaine.”
In 2014, a year after the murder of Reeva Steenkamp, Melinda wrote Oscar: An Accident Waiting To Happen about her killer Oscar Pistorius. The book was written with the help of Samantha Taylor, who dated Pistorius in the months before he shot and killed Reeva.
Melinda penned the autobiographies Hooked, Smacked, Crashed, and Bamboozled about her struggles with substance abuse, sobriety, and a near-fatal car crash.