[imagesource: Instagram / @soniabooth]

South Africans may never look at cheesecake the same way again after the events of the past few days.

In case you’re somehow out of the loop, Sonia Booth, the wife of former Bafana Bafana player Matthew Booth, sensationally outed her husband for alleged infidelity with a slew of social media posts earlier this week.

Step by step, she laid out how a tracker fitted on Matthew’s car helped her pinpoint Bongani Mthombeni-Moller as the ‘other woman’. That’s Matthew and Bongani above, but more on that later.

Then, sensationally, it was a cheesecake that sealed the deal and the term ‘Cheesecakegate‘ was coined.

Matthew had remained silent as the scandal grew in size, eventually releasing a statement yesterday. It appears he’s taking the Elton Jantjies ‘strongly worded denial’ approach, and we know how that ended for the disgraced Springbok:

pic.twitter.com/hgcWakbmzn

— Matthew Booth OLY 🇿🇦⚽️ (@MatthewBoothZA) November 9, 2022

Tagging Sonia’s Twitter account was an interesting call.

Here’s that statement in full:

It is the utmost sadness and disappointment that my wife Sonia Booth resorted to airing these unfounded allegations on all platforms with an intention to tarnish my name without discussing them with me, and without considering the damage that these allegations will cause, especially to out minor children who are in the middle of their final exams and to the Mthombeni-Moller family.

The matter has been handed over to my attorneys who have been instructed to vigorously take the necessary steps to claim the appropriate relief. I will leave this to the legal system and let the truth prevail in due course.

I would like to appeal to Mrs Mthombeni-Moeller, the corporates and sponsors who have partnered with the Booth Trust for the advancement of soccer development initiatives not to allow this personal matter to deter the good work that’s being done, and that which lies ahead.

He says “unfounded allegations” but Sonia has more receipts than a struggling freelancer trying to claim tax back for every expense.

Suffice to say Sonia didn’t take kindly to her husband’s statement and it was back to Instagram to air the dirtiest of laundry.

Be sure to scroll through each of the images in the various posts:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Monyane Msibi Poonyane Pule (@soniabooth)

Tough to push back against that one, right?

We’ve yet to hear a peep from Mthombeni-Moller, although she did share two videos to her Instagram Story the day after the scandal broke.

Here’s one of them:

Bongani Moller on her IG story 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Damn “On to the next” 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/TitC0JSWw9

— MangetheBall  (@Ta_Size_) November 8, 2022

She has since deleted her Instagram account.

Next up, Sonia has video evidence:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Monyane Msibi Poonyane Pule (@soniabooth)

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Monyane Msibi Poonyane Pule (@soniabooth)

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Monyane Msibi Poonyane Pule (@soniabooth)

Finally, Sonia shared a video where she alleged that Matthew followed her to gym using a car tracker and searched her car while she was working out.

TimesLIVE reports:

In the clip Sonia can be heard screaming at Matthew and calling him a coward, she also said she was sharing the clip as evidence should anything happen to her.

“Me being tracked, my car searched using a spare key … unfortunately for him I stepped out the gym as he was busy searching. Ten seconds later he steps out the gym for a ‘talk’, too late. Done with the lies,” she wrote.

I feel like it’s at this point that things have really gone off the rails:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Monyane Msibi Poonyane Pule (@soniabooth)

I suppose there are two ways to look at this.

You can argue this is a private matter and may best have been handled behind closed doors, in light of the couple having children who could be affected.

On the other hand, Sonia sharing her evidence and shaping the narrative certainly swings public opinion her way. Her husband is also a public figure who benefits from both his reputation and online following.

The approach does invoke scrutiny and a media feeding frenzy. When Nando’s gets in on the action, you know you’re a national talking point.

Whatever happens next in ‘Cheesecakegate’, it’s likely to be messy.

[source:timeslive]