Anele Mda apologises to Fikile Mbalula after failed appeal in defamation case

· Citizen

After unsuccessfully appealing an August 2025 ruling against her, political activist Anele Mda has apologised to ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula for the defamatory remarks she made about him regarding North West businessman Wandile Bozwana’s death.

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Bozwana, a tender tycoon and an alleged friend of Mbalula, died in hospital after he and his business associate, Betty Mpho Baloyi, were shot in a hail of bullets on the N1 highway in Pretoria on 2 October 2015.

Mamelodi taxi boss Vusi Mathibela, 36, Sipho Patrick Hudla, 40, Matamela Robert Mutapa, 46, and Bonginkosi Paul Khumalo, 42 were each sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder.

Controversial social media posts

In her 2025 X posts, Mda made comments about Mbalula’s name being mentioned in relation to his friend’s hit.

The posts read: “Wena igama lakho liyavela ekubulaweni kuka Wandile Bozwana (Your name appears in Wandile Bozwana’s murder). The question still stands: what were you doing in Sandton with the guys who were driving the car that followed Wandile Bozwana and whose occupants shot and instantly killed Bozwana in 2015 around Menlyn?

“Awusitsheli lokho! Kwa wena ufanelwe yijele gha (You can’t tell us that. You also deserve to be in jail).”

Mda issues a public apology

She has since apologised for the “unsupported” and “erroneous” remarks.

“These statements were made on social media to which they received significant public attention. With review of facts on the matter, I have come to learn the remarks I made were unsupported and erroneous,” Mda wrote in an apology posted on social media platform X on Tuesday.

“Upon careful reflection, I have come to realise the defamatory impact of my utterances on Mr Mbalula. I hereby fully and unconditionally retract those statements in their entirety.”

Mda said she extended her “most sincere and unreserved apology” to Mbalula for the “distress and reputational harm” her statements may have caused.

She further apologised to the public and all those misled by her remarks.

“I am committed to upholding the standards of integrity and accountability that are expected of a person of my stature.

“I hope Mr Mbalula, the public, and all impacted will receive this apology in the spirit in which it is intended – a genuine acknowledgement of wrongdoing and a commitment to do better.”

Judge dismisses appeal as baseless

In the judgment made in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria in August 2025, Judge Selby Baqwa ruled that Mda’s X posts were “false and defamatory“, ordering her to remove them to apologise.

The judgment followed an urgent application that Mbalula launched in order to force her to remove the posts.

In February, Baqua dismissed Mda’s application for leave to appeal the ruling.

The judge ruled that her case had “no sound, rational basis” and relied on “flimsy hearsay evidence.”

He found that Mda’s repeated grounds of appeal were misconstrued, her attempt to introduce new evidence inadmissible, and her defamatory statements against Mbalula were both false and malicious.

While the court ordered Mda to delete the 2025 posts, other X posts relating to the matter remain on her profile.

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