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Court Rejects Anele Mda’s Final Appeal in Mbalula Defamation Case
The Gauteng High Court has dismissed political commentator Anele Mda’s application for leave to appeal a defamation ruling in favour of ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula, effectively bringing the matter closer to an end.
The ruling follows an August 2025 judgment in which the court found Mda’s social media posts linking Mbalula to the 2015 murder of businessman Wandile Bozwana to be defamatory and false.
Mda was ordered to remove the posts, issue a public retraction and apology, and refrain from repeating the allegations.
In rejecting her latest bid to appeal, the court held that there were no reasonable prospects that another court would overturn the original decision.
The judge found that Mda’s reliance on the defence of fair comment failed, noting her admission that she had no factual basis to support the serious allegations.
Attempts to introduce new material were also dismissed as hearsay and irrelevant.
While the decision closes the appeal process at this level, Mda may still petition the Supreme Court of Appeal directly for special leave to appeal.