The Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) has granted an interim order in favour of EFF leader Julius Malema in his urgent application to stop cultural activist and former radio presenter Ngizwe Mchunu from defaming him.

A report in The Citizen notes that this follows Mchunu’s alleged defamatory remarks during separate media interviews in Pretoria on 28 April, and in Johannesburg on 30 April.

Mchunu was quoted in court papers as having said: ‘Julius Malema…he recently got R60m from the Nigerian drug dealers, that’s why he is highly protected and is also willing to lose everything that he has, politically, in order to protect Nigerians and other illegal immigrants.’

The EFF leader approached the court on an urgent basis, demanding that Mchunu apologise and retract the remarks he made during the interviews, with an additional R1m settlement.

This week, the court issued an interim order that Mchunu ‘not publish, or cause to be published, any further defamatory statements about or otherwise concerning the applicant in terms similar to that of the impugned statements wherein the respondent directly or indirectly, repeats the same or similar allegations as those made in the impugned statements’.

Mchunu was further ordered to pay the costs of part A of the application, including the costs of two counsel on attorney and client scale.

The EFF welcomed the order, saying it affirmed that slander cannot be normalised under the guise of public commentary.

Full report in The Citizen