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In 2020, South Africa was in hard lockdown, but the internet was wide open. While most of us were stuck at home learning Dalgona coffee recipes, five schoolgirls from Limpopo turned a petrol station forecourt into a national stage.
Their names were Tshegofatso Maepa, Katlego Mohlahlo, Kgomotso Aphane, Oratilwe Mokwatlo and Lebogang Motalane. The world would come to know them simply as the Stocko Girls.
And for a few glorious months, they were the biggest stars in the country.
The Viral Moment That Changed Everything
It all started with Mapara A Jazz’s smash hit “John Vuli Gate”. The song was already massive an anthem of lockdown with its infectious beat and chant. But it needed a dance.
The Stocko Girls provided it.
Wearing their grey school tunics, black stockings hence the name “Stocko” and holding bottles of Russian Bear vodka, the girls delivered a perfectly synchronised, high energy routine at a garage. It was playful, cheeky, confident and completely unforgettable.
The video was posted on Facebook and then exploded on TikTok, Twitter and WhatsApp. Within days, everyone was doing the John Vuli Gate challenge from celebrities to politicians to gogos in the village. But no one did it better than the original five.
Almost overnight, the Stocko Girls went from ordinary learners in Burgersfort, Limpopo, to viral superstars. Social media does that. It can take you from obscurity to fame in 15 seconds.
Rubbing Shoulders With A Listers. The fame was instant and intense.
Booking agents started calling. The girls were invited to perform at events, appear on local TV shows and were even booked to headline a SABC 1 event celebrating youth culture. They were interviewed on radio stations and their faces were on entertainment pages daily.
They met and partied with some of South Africa’s biggest names. Photos surfaced of them with Zodwa Wabantu, Lady Du, and other Mapara A Jazz collaborators. Brands that had never looked twice at Limpopo teenagers were suddenly interested. There were talks of endorsements, appearances and paid promotions.
For a moment, it looked like the Stocko Girls would parlay their viral moment into a sustainable entertainment career just like many TikTok stars do today.
But virality is a fast burning fuel.
The Quiet Disappearance
As quickly as they appeared, the Stocko Girls disappeared from the timelines.
The John Vuli Gate wave began to slow down by early 2021. New challenges emerged. New songs took over. The algorithm moved on. And because the girls were still in school, real life came calling.
Matric exams, family responsibilities and the pressure of living up to a viral moment took their toll. Unlike professional dancers or influencers with management teams, the Stocko Girls were teenagers navigating sudden fame without a blueprint.
The group stopped posting together. Their joint Facebook page went quiet. Bookings dried up. The comment section, once filled with “You girls are fire”, started asking “Where are the Stocko Girls now?”
For four of the five members, the answer was simple: they chose a private life. Tshegofatso Maepa, Kgomotso Aphane, Oratilwe Mokwatlo and Lebogang Motalane returned to their studies and stepped away from the public eye completely.
There are no active public influencer profiles for them today. Friends close to the group say they wanted to finish school and live normal lives away from the scrutiny and sometimes harsh criticism of social media.
And you can’t blame them. Viral fame at 16, 17 years old is overwhelming. Every outfit, every mistake, every live video is judged by millions.
The One Who Stayed: Katlego Mohlahlo aka Arianna Katt
Of the five, only one managed to stay relevant and turn that 15 second fame into a longer career: Katlego Mohlahlo, now known online as Arianna Katt.
Arianna embraced the influencer life fully. She rebranded herself, grew her TikTok and Facebook following into the hundreds of thousands, and became a full time content creator. She posts dance videos, lifestyle content, get ready with me clips and comedy skits.
But staying in the spotlight has come with its own challenges.
In 2021, Arianna was heavily trolled after posting videos in revealing outfits. Social media, especially in South Africa, can be brutally conservative when it comes to young women expressing themselves. She was called names, body shamed and told she was setting a bad example.
She clapped back in her own way by continuing to post and by focusing on her education.
In a plot twist that surprised many of her critics, Arianna revealed that she had passed her matric with good results, proving that content creation and education could co exist. That moment earned her a wave of support and respect from people who had previously doubted her.
Today, Arianna Katt is still active. She is arguably bigger now than she was as a Stocko Girl, with a loyal fanbase that follows her fashion, her dances and her unfiltered personality. She has worked with small clothing brands and continues to monetize her platforms.
The Lesson of the Stocko Girls
The story of the Stocko Girls is the story of South African viral culture itself.
It shows how powerful a single video can be. Five girls with no camera crew, no budget, no record label managed to create a cultural moment that defined a year. They gave South Africans joy during one of the darkest periods lockdown.
But it also shows how fleeting viral fame is. Without structure, management, and mental preparation, it is almost impossible to sustain.
The Stocko Girls didn’t fail. They just made a choice. Four of them chose privacy and normal life over the endless pressure of staying relevant. One of them chose to ride the wave and build a career out of it.
Both choices are valid.
Wherever they are now whether in college, working, or still dancing in their rooms they will forever be remembered as the girls who made the whole country shout “John Vuli Gate!”
