When images of Arthur Mafokate and Kelly Khumalo started trending on social media a few weeks ago, rumours about a possible romance and a possible marriage between the two musicians spread like wildfire.

It was all purely speculative, as no one seemed to have intel on what the deal was between the pair whose snaps suspiciously resembled a wedding rehearsal.

My media colleague Rolland “Simpi” Motaung and I theorised that this might be a publicity stunt to get tongues “wedding” ahead of new music that Khumalo and Mafokate might have been cooking. Lo and behold, a brand-new duet titled Ngeke Balunge went live on YouTube on Sunday, 2 March.

The picturesque video was taken in the backdrop of nature, where the “love birds” are surrounded by green trees, blooming flowers, mountains and a water feature.

Khumalo’s lyrics “Ngeke balunge, ngeke basqede”, almost sound like a jab at the folk who had tried to warn Mafokate of the looming dangers of dating a woman they have dubbed a black “widow spider”.

The Afro-soul songstress speaks of an easy love that is not comparable to anything under the sun, holding “her bae” close in a scene where the couple is draped in outfits that give off déja vu. Of course, it is among the many pics we saw circulating on online platforms days ago.

Mafokate praises his sphalaphala’s beauty, saying she is a stunner from the moment she wakes up (a time when most of us are oozing drool and eye rheum, and our hair looks like we’ve just experienced electric shock).

“Make-up dololo ubaby wami ibunju,” Mafokate says in the song. (Ibunju is a kasie term for a woman who is drop-dead gorgeous.)

I’m willing to bet his lyrics are a definite insult to some of the comments on social media last month when the images surfaced.

Below are some of the lyrics:

Tough luck to the haters, sobabona later. Baby sibenzela ifilimu babukele thina. Bathi ungidlisile ngithi yebo ungidlise kamnandi. Abondaba bakhona. Abantu bazogcina ngokuhleba kuphela

The song is fun and colourful in its energy. Mafokate’s kwaito infusion with Khumalo’s signature Afro-pop vocals makes for a distinctive South African sound.

Makhadzi comes to mind as one of the artists who have made cryptic social media posts to announce new music, but Mafokate and Khumalo’s take was well thought out. It played on public opinion about the controversy that has followed both artists for a number of years.

In my opinion, it was no coincidence that the images went live on social media during the month of love. Kudos; this one definitely has the potential to be a hit.