Court Rules Against Anele Mda: Tweets Linking Fikile Mbalula to Bozwana Murder Declared False

The Gauteng High Court has handed ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula a decisive legal victory against social commentator Anele Mda, ruling that her tweets linking him to the 2015 murder of businessman Wandile Bozwana were “false and defamatory.”

Judge Selby Baqwa’s ruling, delivered on Monday, ordered Mda to remove the posts, issue a public apology, and refrain from ever suggesting Mbalula was involved in Bozwana’s death.

Judge: “Unlawful and malicious”

Baqwa dismissed Mda’s attempts to defend her posts under claims of truth or public interest. “No rights are absolute,” he said, pointing to objective court evidence showing Bozwana’s killers had already been sentenced.

“What cannot be denied,” Baqwa ruled, “is that the respondent’s defamatory remarks constituted an unabated assault on his reputation … This shows malice and ill-will harboured by her utterances.”

Mda was also slapped with a punitive costs order, making her financially responsible for the case.

The disputed tweets

Mda’s posts, written in a mix of English and isiXhosa, accused Mbalula of being present with men linked to Bozwana’s killers on the day of the murder. One tweet read:

“Wena igama lakho liyavela ekubulaweni kuka Wandile Bozwana … Even you were supposed to be in jail.”

The remarks sparked outrage online, with Mbalula hitting back at what he called a smear campaign. For him, the ruling is not just about clearing his name, but about setting a precedent for political discourse in the age of Twitter.

A murder that still haunts Pretoria

Bozwana, a flamboyant North West businessman, was gunned down in a hail of bullets in Pretoria in October 2015. His associate, Betty Mpho Baloyi, survived the attack.

Last year, notorious taxi boss Vusi “Khekhe” Mathibela and three accomplices were sentenced to 30 years in prison for the killing. The conviction closed one chapter of the saga but did little to silence speculation and conspiracy theories, the very narratives Mda echoed in her posts.

Why Mbalula’s name surfaced

At the time of the murder, police interest in Mbalula, who described Bozwana as a “friend,” stemmed from phone records showing contact between him and Mathibela. Reports also suggested Mbalula met Bozwana two days before his death.

Police investigators believed Mbalula could have been useful to the case, though no evidence ever tied him to the murder itself. The killers were convicted on strong forensic and CCTV evidence, not on political speculation.

Public reaction

The ruling has stirred mixed responses. Supporters of Mbalula view it as overdue justice, arguing that Twitter has become a reckless space where reputations are destroyed without proof. Others see it as a blow against free speech, with Mda’s supporters rallying behind her plan to appeal.

On social media, the debate mirrors a broader question in South Africa: where should the line be drawn between political accountability, free expression, and the spread of unverified claims?

Bigger than two people

This case isn’t just about Anele Mda or Fikile Mbalula. It’s about the growing collision between politics, social media, and the law in South Africa. With Twitter increasingly a battleground for reputations, the judgment serves as a warning: words online carry real-world consequences.

Mda now faces the difficult task of appealing the ruling while managing the weight of a public apology. For Mbalula, the court’s ruling may silence some critics, but the shadows of Bozwana’s murder and the whispers it left behind are unlikely to disappear anytime soon.

{Source: The Citizen}

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