High Court orders former independent candidate Anele Mda to apologise to Mbalula

JOHANNESBURG - Former independent candidate Anele Mda has been ordered to apologise to African National Congress (ANC) Secretary General Fikile Mbalula over remarks she made about him.

On 7 July 2025, Mda posted on the social media site X that Mbalula was implicated in the death of North West businessman, Wandile Bozwana.

In October 2015, Bozwana was shot nine times in his car while at a traffic light in Pretoria.

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Last year, four men were sentenced to 30 years behind bars for the murder.

Bozwana and Mbalula were close friends at the time of his death. The ANC Secretary General even spoke at Bozwana’s funeral.

In court papers, Mbalula said he was hurt when Mda linked him to the murder of his friend.

In response, Mda told the court she was relying on a 2019 article by The Citizen, linking Mbalula to the death.

However, High Court Judge Selby Baqwa did not buy this defence, considering Mda’s comments came almost a year after the killers of Bozwana were sentenced.

In addition to being slapped with a cost order, Mda has also been ordered to retract her statement and issue a public apology to Mbalula within 24 hours.