Deputy Finance Minister David Masondo has won his urgent court action against businessman Rali Mampeule, with a judge ordering the property developer to stop making defamatory claims that Masondo is involved in ‘corruption, bribery and unethical business activities’.

News24 reports that the court also ordered Mampeule to email business colleagues he previously contacted, saying the allegations against Masondo were ‘false’ and ‘made recklessly’.

‘This judgment transcends personal vindication; it is a victory for the public servants whose pensions and savings we are mandated to protect,’ Masondo said in a statement.

Masondo chairs the state-run asset manager the Public Investment Corporation (PIC). The ruling comes three weeks after the PIC won an interim order barring Mampeule from making allegations of corruption, extortion and adultery against its senior officials. Mampeule has said he planned to appeal.

Mampeule accused Masondo in a January podcast of being part of a ‘scheme’ that ‘takes’ black-owned businesses the PIC has invested in, and said he shared responsibility for ‘bankrupting Limpopo’s Treasury’.

Masondo said these and similar claims – repeated in emails to business colleagues, a complaint to the Public Protector, and media articles – were defamatory and falsely portrayed him as anti-black and corrupt.

Mampeule denied he had ever outright accused him of corruption, saying he hedged his language by using ‘allegedly’ and was only repeating information already in the public realm.

He added that Masondo, as a senior public figure, should expect robust criticism.

But Judge Gregory Wright of the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) said the allegations were prima facie wrongful and defamatory.

‘The weak point in Mr Mampeule’s case is that he provides no evidence to prove his allegations. There are no real disputes of fact,’ Wright said, according to News24.

Before their relationship broke down, Mampeule and the PIC were business partners. 

Two years ago, the PIC approved a R725m loan facility to Mampeule’s company, Levoca 805, to buy a 19.5% stake in a fibre business.

The PIC has since clawed back the shares, saying Levoca’s directors committed ‘multiple breaches’ of the agreement, including failing to provide management accounts or pay legal and advisory fees.

Full News24 report