Social media erupts over Lerato Nxumalo's complaints about washing her husband's underwear

Some of us grew up in South African homes where certain things were non-negotiable. One of them? You wash your own underwear, especially as a woman.

It’s giving “don’t mix your g-strings with towels”; it’s giving “respect the household”; it’s giving quiet rules that were never written down but deeply enforced. So when conversations like this pop up online, they hit a nerve because culture, upbringing and the internet are a very chaotic mix.

South African actress and influencer Lerato Nxumalo recently found herself trending after sharing a rather innocent video about her husband’s underwear. The newly married actress, who tied the knot in 2025, posted a casual clip complaining about having to wash her husband’s underwear, holding it up to the camera like a tired wife just needing to vent.

Now listen. I don’t think the issue was the washing. Marriage comes with chores, compromise and sometimes washing things you truly wish you didn’t have to. The real problem?

Complaining about it online and showing the nation the man’s onties (underwear). That’s where things started to wobble.

And social media? Yoh. Social media has moods. One minute it’s minding its business, the next it’s dragging you like you personally offended its ancestors.

An X user reposted the video after it resurfaced and wrote: “Lerato Nxumalo letting us know her husband is nasty by not washing his own underwear so he leaves it in the laundry to let Lerato wash ishlama sakhe. Gross.”

From there, it was open season. Over 200 comments later, many felt the post crossed a line and showed a lack of respect towards her marriage.

One user commented: “Imagine making a video and letting the world know that you married a dirty man who can’t wash his own clothes.”

Another added: “Somethings shouldn’t go on the internet, cause why would you record yourself washing your husband's underwear?”

That’s the real conversation here. Not about underwear. Not even about Nxumalo specifically. It’s about how much is too much when it comes to sharing your marriage (and other topics) online.

That’s my chat. Social media is basically Sodom and Gomorrah with WiFi. No mercy, no context, no pause button.

Oversharing crept in quietly, disguised as relatability, content” and “just sharing my truth”. Somewhere between morning GRWM videos and live-tweeting emotional breakdowns, the internet became everyone’s group chat - except the group chat has strangers, zero confidentiality and permanent receipts.

These days, people share everything. What they eat, who they’re dating, when the relationship is shaky, when it’s toxic, when it’s over, and then when they’re “healing”.

Daily routines have turned into personal documentaries, and the audience has grown far too comfortable feeling entitled to other people’s lives simply because they were invited once.

That’s the shift. Posting is no longer just posting. It’s become digital intimacy.

Reasearch have pointed out that social media now functions as a stand-in for emotional support. People share because they want validation, reassurance and connection, all very human needs. The problem is that the internet offers applause, not care.

It offers opinions, not protection. And it certainly doesn’t offer professional boundaries. What looks like therapy is often just trauma performed for engagement, without an actual therapist in sight.

So when do we cross the line? Maybe when private frustrations become public content. Maybe when jokes turn into receipts. Or maybe when we forget that some things are better discussed in the laundry room, not the timeline.