Media personality Vuyiseka Mpeqeka Pamela says she has approached the courts again, seeking relief after Mzansi Magic allegedly used her images and video clips without her consent to promote the second season of a television programme featuring reality-TV personality Nandipha Audrey Mlombi, popularly known as Queen Nandi.
“Mzansi Magic has used my images and video clips to promote season 2. I did not authorize that and that is why I took them to Court last year,” Mpeqeka told Africa Daily.
The latest legal move thrusts Mpeqeka back into a dispute that has already spilled from social media and reality television into the court’s.
Mpeqeka said she was unable to disclose further details about the latest proceedings because the matter is currently before the courts.
“I can’t divulge more as the matter is sub-judice,” she said.
The latest development cannot be viewed in isolation from the highly publicised dispute that erupted between Mpeqeka and Mlombi last year.
Mlombi, who rose to public prominence through reality television and has appeared on Mzansi Magic’s Nandi & The Rev, became embroiled in a bitter dispute with Mpeqeka over a Sandton property in June 2025.
The reality series follows Mlombi, her husband Rev. Mawuzole Mlombi and their children as they navigate family life, financial pressures and marital difficulties.
The property dispute exploded into the public domain after Mlombi publicly complained that she was being evicted from a house she said she had rented through Mpeqeka.
At that time Mlombi claimed she had paid R22,000 in rent to Mpeqeka, whom she believed was the owner or agent of the property.
The ownership and circumstances surrounding the tenancy were subsequently disputed, with the actual property owners challenging the accounts surrounding the occupation of the house.
Mpeqeka subsequently gave her own account of the dispute after Mlombi’s eviction video went viral, while the controversy generated extensive social-media commentary and competing allegations.
The dispute eventually moved from public accusations to court corridors.
Court documents seen by Africa Daily show that the Randburg Magistrate’s Court granted a final protection order in the matter of Vuyiseka Mpeqeka Pamela v Nandipha Audrey Mlombi on 23 July 2025, converting an interim order granted on the same date.
The order places extensive restrictions on Mlombi.
According to the court order, Mlombi is prohibited from engaging in or attempting to engage in harassment of Mpeqeka, enlisting another person to harass her, or committing emotional, verbal or psychological abuse against her.
The order further prohibits Mlombi from directly or indirectly communicating with Mpeqeka, communicating with any third party about her, or posting about her on any social media platform.
Mlombi was also ordered to remove any and all posts concerning Mpeqeka from social media within 72 hours of being served with the order.
The order was signed by a Randburg magistrate and is set to remain in force until 23 July 2030.
It also records that a warrant of arrest against Mlombi was authorised, although execution of the warrant was suspended on condition that she complies with the terms of the protection order.
Under section 18(1)(a) of the Protection from Harassment Act, 2011, a respondent who contravenes a prohibition, condition or obligation contained in a protection order commits an offence and, upon conviction, may face a fine or imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years.
In a statement shared with Africa Daily, Mpeqeka spoke about the toll the past year has taken on her and her family, saying she deliberately chose not to fight the dispute through public commentary.
“I am not someone who speaks or writes just for the sake of it. God knows the full story, every detail and every person’s address in this matter,” she said.
Mpeqeka said she had been publicly dragged and subjected to hurtful comments on social media.
But, she said, the impact on her child had been particularly painful.
“What hurt me deeply was that my child was also affected, yet very little consideration was given to what she went through,” she said.
“I chose to remain quiet. I gave it to God and allowed the matter to follow the appropriate legal process. I believe that God fights for His own, and sometimes you don’t have to answer every accusation publicly when God knows the truth,” she continued.
Mpeqeka said that the matter resurfaced for her this year when she discovered that she had appeared on a television programme without her permission.
The alleged use of her images and video footage has now become the subject of fresh court proceedings involving Mzansi Magic.
“Again this year, I found myself emotionally and mentally overwhelmed after becoming aware that I had appeared on a television programme without my permission. This was particularly concerning to me because there was already a court order relating to the mention/publication of my name,” she said.
Her allegation raises questions about how her images and video clips were obtained, whether any permission was sought or granted for their use, and how the material came to be incorporated into the promotion of the second season.
Those questions are particularly significant against the backdrop of the existing protection order, although the existence of that order does not, on its own, establish that Mzansi Magic or the television production breached it.
Mpeqeka has declined to discuss the substance of the new court proceedings while they remain before the courts.
“I can’t divulge more as the matter is sub judice,” she said.
The development nevertheless places renewed scrutiny on the relationship between the bitter dispute involving Mpeqeka and Mlombi, the court order obtained by Mpeqeka, and the subsequent appearance of Mpeqeka’s alleged images and footage in promotional material connected to a television programme featuring Mlombi.
The allegations have been put to Mzansi Magic and Queen Nandi. At the time of publication they had not responded.
Africa Daily will update this article should Mzansi Magic, Mlombi or any other relevant party respond.
