Popular South Africa actress Natasha Thahane made headlines for all the reasons last month, Natasha Thahane was heavily criticized on social media after she publicly revealed that she received 1 Million Rands from the former Speaker of the National Assembly Baleka Mbete after asking her for funding to pay for her studies in New York.

A lot South Africa of South Africans were not happy about Natasha Thahane receiving the funding after personally approaching Baleka Mbete, as they believe that she received preferential treatment because she is a celebrities and she has political connections, which is unfair to regular South Africans who also need funding for their studies.

However, On Thursday (16 December) Sports, arts and culture minister Nathi Mthethwa says that Natasha Thahane sent a request to his office to ask for funds to study in New York, and he also said that he regularly receives similar requests from the South African public.

“What we know is that Ms Thahane made a request for financial support towards her studies at the New York Film Academy directly to me as the minister, This request is similar to many others that my office and the department constantly receive from members of the public. The public does this possibly because I am the political head of the department” – Said Nathi Mthethwa.