By Charmaine Ndlela
Controversial blogger Musa Khawula has been given 30 days to comply with a Gauteng High Court order requiring him to retract and apologise for defamatory claims about EFF leader Julius Malema and his wife, Mantoa Matlala-Malema, or face a jail sentence.
The High Court in Johannesburg found Khawula in wilful contempt of an earlier order handed down on 14 April, after he failed to remove social media posts and publish an apology over allegations about the couple’s marriage.
The court imposed a 30-day sentence of direct imprisonment, but suspended it for 30 days to allow Khawula to comply with the April order.
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That order followed posts published on X in February, in which Khawula alleged that Matlala-Malema had filed for divorce, or that the couple was heading for a split. The court found the statements to be unlawful and defamatory.
Khawula was ordered in April to remove the offending posts from his X account and any other platforms under his control, issue an unconditional public apology, refrain from repeating similar allegations, and pay the costs of the application on an attorney-and-client scale.
Instead, Khawula publicly rejected the order and said on X that he would not apologise, prompting Malema and Matlala-Malema to return to court for contempt proceedings.
