RESIDENTS taunt Prince Mwibu (43) and call him a gay prostitute –. but he is a heterosexual man who has a child and a girlfriend living in Wallacedene, Kraaifontein, close to Cape Town.
They call Prince a gay prostitute at taxi ranks, shisa nyamas, taverns and almost everywhere people gather.
“I have nothing against gays, but I hate to be called what I’m not,” he said.
Prince explained why he approached the Daily Sun about his ordeal.
“I want the newspaper to help me to tell everybody that I’m a dedicated and loving family man, not a gay prostitute,” said the depressed man.
Prince, who works as a furniture maker, said the gay slut rumours had messed up his social life.
“Taxi drivers painfully ruin my day mornings by calling me a lady or moffie when I catch a taxi to work,” he said.
The rumours started in 2015 after Prince arrived in South Africa.
He used to keep to himself, and because he was not mixing with people and had no girlfriend, his landlord and neighbours thought he was gay.
Mwibu said friends who used to drive him to taverns, where they would have fun, now shunned him.
“My friends have cut me off because people call me a gay slut at taverns and make fun of me. Revellers sometimes split into two groups and one group will noisily argue that I am gay while the other says I am not. Consequently my friends have left me because they don’t want to hang out with someone who causes heated quarrels.
“I’m a normal, straight guy who also wants to hang out with other people and have fun,” continued Prince.
He argued with his girlfriend in front of Daily Sun, saying she was not helping him squash the gossip.
“You know Xhosa and Afrikaans, so you understand when people talk but still you say nothing,” he shouted.
His girlfriend and mother of his three year-old daughter, Priscilla Hill (35), said the gay tag was ruining their relationship.
“He gets angry with me and says I am not doing anything to help him.
“The gossip causes unbearable tension between us, and it also hurts me a great deal,” she said.
The SunTeam approached a man who Prince identified as one of the taxi drivers who made fun of him.
“I saw him trying to convince another taxi driver that he is a family man and I just laughed,” said the taxi driver, who refused to give his name.
