South African actor Bonko Khoza has publicly denied allegations made by former Outlaws actress Nirvana Nokwe-Mseleku, who recently accused him of sexually violating her during the filming of Red Ink in September 2023.
The allegations first came to light after Nirvana claimed that Khoza allegedly “got carried away” while filming a violent scene for the Showmax production, leaving her feeling violated. She further alleged that despite reporting the incident, attempts to address the matter internally were unsuccessful.
Nirvana later announced that she had quit acting and would never return to traditional media, saying the ordeal left her deeply traumatised. She also shared emails allegedly sent to producers at Bomb Productions, where she questioned how the matter was handled and accused the production environment of protecting misconduct.
At the time of Kurrently’s earlier reporting, both Nirvana and Bonko had been approached for comment, but no response had been received.
However, in a public statement released on 18 May 2026, Khoza strongly denied the allegations.
Khoza said he takes allegations of sexual assault seriously and supports victims of abuse, but denied sexually assaulting, thrusting upon, or committing any misconduct against Nirvana.
According to Khoza, the incident in question happened during a fully clothed violent stunt scene, which he says was discussed beforehand, choreographed and rehearsed with Nirvana, the director, director of photography and stunt coordinator.
He further claimed that Nirvana had been offered a stunt double before the scene was filmed but declined, adding that everything performed on set was done according to the script and under supervision from senior production staff.
Khoza also stated that more than 12 crew members were present during filming, including directors, producers, camera and sound teams, and claimed that none reported any misconduct at the time.
He said that on 30 November 2023, representatives from Red Ink Productions, M-Net, SWIFT, senior crew members and both actors’ agents allegedly reviewed unedited footage of the scene, and according to him, all parties concluded that the footage did not support claims of sexual misconduct.
Khoza further revealed that Nirvana later opened a criminal case against him in May 2024, saying he cooperated with investigators and gave a sworn statement to police. He claimed authorities later decided not to prosecute the matter after reviewing the facts.
In his statement, Khoza also alleged that similar accusations had previously been made by Nirvana against other actors and cast members in unrelated productions, describing what he called a “pattern” as concerning.
He added that the past two and a half years had been emotionally difficult for him and his family, saying the allegations had impacted his reputation, career and role as a father.
At the time of publication, Nirvana Nokwe-Mseleku had not yet publicly responded to Bonko Khoza’s latest statement.
