By Akani Nkuna
DA Johannesburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille has refused to retract allegations that EFF leader Julius Malema influenced municipal decisions and procurement in the city, despite his lawyers threatening legal action for defamation.
Asked on X on Tuesday whether she would retract her remarks, Zille replied: “No.”
Her response follows a formal demand from Malema’s lawyers that she withdraw the allegations, issue a public apology and undertake not to repeat them by close of business on Wednesday.
In a letter dated Monday, 9 November, England Slabbert Attorneys accused Zille of making false and defamatory statements during an eNCA interview on Sunday, in which she discussed former Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba and the DA’s potential coalition partners.
Zille alleged that Mashaba had allowed Malema to dictate major decisions in the City of Johannesburg, influence the municipal fleet tender and capture City Power.
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She also claimed that Malema had instructed Mashaba to appoint Shadrack Sibiya as head of the city’s anti-corruption unit.
The lawyers said that Zille’s allegations portrayed Malema as dishonest, corrupt and willing to abuse his political influence to benefit himself and companies allegedly associated with him.
“Your allegations are vexatious, misplaced, spurious and untrue,” the lawyers said.
“Your statements are not expressions of opinion, but allegations of fact for which you have furnished no basis.”
The letter said the allegations had been widely circulated on social media and republished by news organisations, causing serious harm to Malema’s reputation.
His lawyers also accused Zille of deliberately attempting to damage Malema and the EFF for political reasons.
“We are furthermore instructed that your making these defamatory statements is done deliberately to exact political revenge on our client and the EFF,” the letter said.
The lawyers demanded that Zille publicly acknowledge that her allegations were untrue and defamatory, retract them and apologise to Malema.
They also insisted that she publish the retraction on her social media accounts, including Facebook, X and Instagram, and issue a press statement to media organisations.
Zille was further instructed to provide a written undertaking not to repeat the allegations or make statements to the same effect.
“Should you fail to do so, we hold instructions to institute further legal action against you, without further notice, including a claim for damages and an interdict restraining any further publication of the statements,” the lawyers said.
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The confrontation comes as political parties negotiate coalition arrangements in Johannesburg following the 4 November local government elections.
The DA secured the largest share of the vote in Johannesburg with 34.8%, followed by the African National Congress (ANC) with 20.3% and ActionSA with 16.3%. No party secured an outright majority.
Mashaba served as Johannesburg mayor under the DA from 2016 until 2019, when he resigned following disagreements with the party’s leadership. He subsequently established ActionSA in 2020.
During Sunday’s interview, Zille accused Mashaba of allowing the EFF to exercise influence over his administration because he needed its support to remain mayor.
The legal letter reproduced part of her remarks, including her claim about Sibiya’s appointment.
“He even appointed Shadrack Sibiya as the head of the ant[i]-corruption unit at Julius’s instruction and when I said to him we can’t do that and he said to me that is the price we pay to stay in power…”
The letter does not specify an amount for the damages Malema may seek.
