SPELL: DJ and television personality Lamiez Holworthy-Morule reflects on the health crisis that nearly claimed her life—and confronts the cruelty and emotional damage caused by cyberbullying…
By Zintle Mdaka
South African DJ, radio presenter and television personality Lamiez Holworthy-Morule has urged women to listen to their bodies after revealing that she nearly lost her life following a recent health scare.
Holworthy-Morule shared the emotional warning on social media after undergoing an emergency surgical procedure that forced her to cancel some of her professional commitments.
The experience compelled the entertainer—who has spent years building a demanding career in music, radio and television—to reconsider the personal cost of consistently putting work ahead of her well-being.
“After nearly losing my life literally a day after this speech, I stand by my words now more than ever,” she wrote.
The timing of the health crisis, around National Women’s Day, carried particular meaning for her.
“It’s crazy how God chose National Women’s Day to not only remind me that I am a woman but that I am human too and that my health should always come first,” she shared.
Born Lamiez Mischa Miriam Holworthy and raised in Pretoria, Holworthy-Morule has become one of South Africa’s most recognisable female DJs and broadcasters.
She began learning her craft as an underground DJ in 2010, long before she became a familiar face on national television. Her early broadcasting experience included presenting on Soweto TV and Tshwane TV as she worked to establish herself in an entertainment industry in which women DJs were still fighting for recognition.
Her breakthrough came when she was chosen to present SABC1’s popular music programme Live AMP. The high-profile role introduced her to a national audience and cemented her reputation as an energetic presenter with an unmistakable personal style.
Holworthy-Morule later expanded her broadcasting career at Metro FM, where she co-hosted The Penthouse Sessions alongside veteran DJ Lulo Café. She has also presented major entertainment events, including the South African Music Awards.
Behind the turntables, she is known for sets that move across house, hip-hop and amapiano. Her distinctive image, tattoos, motorcycles and forthright personality have helped her build a strong following in an industry where image and public scrutiny frequently accompany success.
Her career has also extended into music production, business and philanthropy. Through the Lamiez Holworthy Foundation, she has supported children’s homes, safe houses and students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Holworthy-Morule is married to acclaimed motswako rapper Khuli Chana, whose real name is Khulane Morule. The couple welcomed their son, Leano-Laone Zion Morule, in 2023.
Her rise, however, has not insulated her from the pressures of celebrity, an unforgiving workload or the abuse that often follows public figures online.
‘I nearly lost my life’
Reflecting on her medical emergency, Holworthy-Morule urged women not to ignore unexplained changes in their bodies, particularly abnormal menstrual symptoms and persistent back pain.
“Ladies, if you experience abnormal periods or back pains, please visit your nearest doctor. I nearly lost my life because I ignored mine and chose to put work first,” she said.
She also drew attention to ovarian cysts and endometriosis—conditions that can cause severe pain and other complications, but whose symptoms are sometimes dismissed or endured for long periods without medical attention.
“Living with constant pain isn’t normal, nor is there any honour in working yourself to death—I learnt that the hard way,” she wrote.
Her admission speaks to the pressure many women experience to continue working, caring for their families and meeting professional expectations even when their bodies are signalling that something may be wrong.
For Holworthy-Morule, whose career depends on late nights, travel, public appearances and a packed performance schedule, slowing down may have felt difficult. Her medical emergency, however, forced her to confront the danger of treating exhaustion and pain as unavoidable parts of ambition.
Her message was clear: enduring pain should not be mistaken for strength, and seeking medical help should never be postponed in the name of work.
Confronting online cruelty
Holworthy-Morule also used her platform to challenge cyberbullying and the psychological damage caused by people who use social media to humiliate and attack others.
“Please tag your neighbourhood bully because now more than ever, the suicide rate has gone higher and I’ll be damned if I sit back and just let it happen,” she said.
As a public figure with a large online following, she has experienced both admiration and relentless scrutiny. Her appearance, marriage, parenting and career have all attracted unsolicited commentary from social media users.
She said online cruelty had become dangerously normalised and urged those carrying unresolved emotional wounds to seek professional help instead of inflicting their pain on others.
“We have too many broken little boys and girls walking around in adult bodies, and that is why cyberbullying has been normalised—and me? I’m tired!” she wrote. “Go to therapy and heal because we are tired of being bled on.”
Her comments linked physical and emotional well-being, warning that visible success does not make a person immune to pain. Behind the celebrity image, she suggested, is a human being who can become ill, overwhelmed or emotionally wounded.
Choosing healing
Holworthy-Morule’s candid account offers a different picture of the woman audiences see commanding stages, presenting television shows and entertaining thousands from behind the decks.
It is the story of a successful entertainer forced to acknowledge her own vulnerability—and to turn a frightening personal experience into a warning for other women.
She ended her message by wishing her followers “love, light and healing”.
For Holworthy-Morule, the health scare has become a sobering reminder that ambition should never come at the expense of one’s life. – Fullview/WSAM – This article first appeared in the Weekly Mirror
