Podcast and Chill with MacG has suffered a costly legal setback after Johannesburg High Court ordered the podcast hosts to pay hundreds of thousands of rands in legal bill to a Joburg company and its directors who successfully challenged their allegations that a woman was raped by a well-known celebrity at one of its events.
Africa Daily can exclusively reveal that Webber Wentzel , who represented Homecoming Events and its directors Lerato Sangweni and Athabile Ngxamngxa , have been given the greenlight by the high court to demand payment of over R211 000 from Podcast and Chill with MacG hosts MacGyver “MacG” Mukwevho, Solomzi Thandubuntu “Sol” Phenduka and Khanyile “Ghost Lady” Khozane.
This follows allegations the three musketeers made on the controversial podcast that there was “ a big celebrity who raped someone at the entity’s event in Sun City and that Sangweni and Ngxamngxa were trying to “ shut it down” and make sure “ it does not come out because it is going to kill their business”.
After applying its mind , the high court granted an order declaring the allegations false and defamatory and unlawful.
The high court also ordered the podcasters to retract the allegations, remove related material from their social media platforms and publish an apology on the Podcast and Chill with MacG YouTube channel, as well as its X, Instagram and TikTok accounts.
The order further interdicted the trio from repeating allegations that a “big celebrity” raped someone at a Homecoming Events event and that the organisers were attempting to suppress the alleged incident to protect their business.
The court ordered the respondents to pay Homecoming Events’ legal costs on an attorney-and-client scale.
The order also declared that the respondents were liable for damages, with the quantification of those damages referred to oral evidence.
The resulting order required the respondents to publicly acknowledge that the allegations had been made without verification and were false, which they did.
The legal costs now facing the respondents include work undertaken by Homecoming Events’ attorneys during the urgent application, including drafting court papers, consultations with counsel and the client, preparation of documents, court attendances and related administrative work.
The bill records a total of R57,047 in attorney fees before additional charges and disbursements. After urgency fees, a drawing fee, disbursements and an attendance fee were added, the total amount reflected in the bill is R211,073.34.
The bill was accompanied by a Rule 70 certificate dated 4 August 2026 in which the attorney certified that it had been properly perused and that the work, time and numbers recorded were in accordance with work necessarily performed by the firm.
Correspondence from Webber Wentzel dated 4 August shows that the firm asked the respondents’ attorneys Thambeleni Inc to confirm whether they remained authorised to act and whether their client was prepared to settle the bill without taxation.
The legal battle arose after an episode of Podcast and Chill with MacG, published on or about 1 June 2026, in which allegations were made that a woman had been raped by a prominent celebrity at a Homecoming Events event.
Sangweni, in papers filed in the high court, argued that the allegations were false, unsubstantiated and highly defamatory.
Sangweni said the comments created the impression that Homecoming Events and its representatives knew about an alleged rape involving a prominent celebrity and had attempted to cover it up because it could damage the company’s business.
The troika did not file opposing papers in the application.
