The Johannesburg High Court has ordered controversial blogger Musa Khawula to delete social media posts deemed defamatory against Afrirent Holdings chief executive Senzo Tsabedze and issue an unconditional public apology to him.
In terms of the court order, Khawula must remove the offending statements from his X account, @Musa_Khawula, and any other social media platforms under his control within 24 hours of being served.
The court also instructed him to publish an unreserved apology to Tsabedze on all of his social media accounts within the same 24-hour period.
“The first respondent is directed to permanently retract the impugned statements from his X account under the name @Musa_Khawula, and from any other social media platforms under his control, within 24 hours of service of this order.
“Within 24 hours of this order, to publish on all of his social media accounts an unreserved apology to Tsabedze for the allegations made in the impugned statements, and for the publication of the impugned statements,” the order states.
The ruling follows a string of posts published between July 6 and July 15 in which Khawula alleged that Tsabedze was involved in extramarital affairs with six younger women.
He further claimed that one of the women was younger than Tsabedze’s daughter.
Khawula identified actress Amanda du-Pont, Luyanda Zuma, Yaya Lekhuleni, Pearl Ndlovu, Lebo Mokoena and Queen Embee as some of the alleged girlfriends.
He also created an online poll asking followers to choose who deserved to be the real-life “Jonasi” from the television series The Polygamist, with Tsabedze listed among the options.
The court order was granted on July 21.
Almost seven days later, Khawula had not published an apology and the disputed posts were still visible on his account.
The order further states that Tsabedze may institute contempt of court proceedings if Khawula fails to comply within seven days, potentially exposing him to arrest.
Khawula was also directed to pay Tsabedze’s legal costs.
In a separate social media post published on July 2, Khawula said he would rather go to prison than record an apology.
Although the court did not compel him to record a video apology, it provided wording for the apology that he is required to publish.
This is not the first time Khawula has faced legal action over his social media posts.
In October last year, lawyers acting for entrepreneur and advertising executive Groovin Nchabeleng sent Khawula a cease-and-desist letter after he alleged that Nchabeleng received monthly payments from alleged criminal Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.
