African National Congress ANC Secretary-General, Fikile Mbalula, has filed an urgent court application to compel social commentator Anele Mda to remove social media posts that allegedly link him to the murder of Wandile Bozwana, a prominent tender tycoon.
The application was lodged with the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria last week, according to a News24 report . The matter was set to be heard on Monday 11 August.
Fikile Mbalula takes on Anele MdaIn his application, Mbalula argues that Mdas posts are defamatory, falsely implicate him in Bozwanas murder and have caused harm to his reputation.
He is thus seeking a court order to compel her to remove the posts and refrain from making further similar statements.
Bozwana, whom Mbalula describes as a friend, was killed in a shooting on Garsfontein Road in Pretoria on 2 October 2015. He was driving with a business associate, Mpho Baloyi, at the time of the incident. Baloyi survived the attack.
A Mamelodi taxi boss, Vusi Khekhe Mathibela, together with his co-accused, Robert Mutapa, Sipho Patrick Hudla and Bonginkosi Khumalo, were sentenced last year to 30 years in prison for the murder.
According to Mbalula, Mda claimed he was with Bozwana and one of his convicted murderers at Emperors Palace in Kempton Park, Gauteng, two days before the murder took place.
She attaches no proof of this purported meeting, which never took place as alleged, the ANC Secretary-General argues.
He further faults Mda for not producing proof to back her allegation that he had a fallout with Bozwana, adding that media reports showed he was officiating an event as a minister on the day Bozwana was shot.
"Consequently, her reliance on me being anywhere close to the vicinity of the crime scene is refuted by information that is in the public domain, Mbalula argues.