Three months after making alleged defamatory remarks about businessman Ze Khumalo, the so-called celebrity blogger Musa Khawula was arrested and charged with crimen injuria for ‘impairing, injuring, or damaging the dignity’ of the businessman.

Yet 18 months after three youngsters had filed similar criminal charges against TikTok user Njabulo Madlanga, the NPA has not decided whether to prosecute her.

In a press release, AfriForum expressed its concern that since 2023, when its Private Prosecution Unit (PPU) had filed a case on behalf of Reece Lopes, Milan Kruijer and Jude Fraser-Grant, nothing has happened. The organisation intends to privately prosecute Madlanga if the state declines to do so.

“The unit has written to the Director of Public Prosecutions [DPP], Adv Andrew Chauke, to express its concern about what appears to be a double standard and to request that he intervenes to ensure that a decision is made on whether to prosecute,” the press release states.

According to AfriForum spokesperson Barry Bateman, Chauke responded within a day of receiving the letter, indicating that a senior advocate had been assigned to attend to the matter. The unit had previously written to Chauke in June and November last year. While the DPP had responded promptly and positively to the correspondence by instructing the prosecutor in charge of the case to come to a decision, this has not yet happened.

In August 2023, the trio filed a case of crimen injuria against Madlanga for allegedly making false and damaging racist allegations against them in a series of TikTok posts. One of the posts has been viewed over two million times.

In October 2023, the PPU successfully applied for a protection order against Madlanga, prohibiting her from further harassing or enlisting the help of others to harass the complainants. The unit has previously stated publicly that false claims of racism should be dealt with as seriously as bona fide allegations of such discrimination.

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Adv Gerrie Nel, the head of AfriForum’s PPU, has alerted Chauke to the inference that the failure to decide to prosecute is not delayed because of the complexity of the case, but because of undisclosed non-prosecutorial reasons.

“The NPA’s media statement on January 14, concerning the arrest and prosecution of the ‘social media personality’, Musa Khawula, has convinced the unit that our clients’ case is being thwarted by considerations unrelated to the facts of the case,” Nel said.

“According to the NPA’s statement, Khawula is accused of posting ‘derogatory statements between October 10 and 12, 2024 on his social media platform, which has a substantial following, with the alleged intention of impairing, injuring or damaging the dignity of businessman Ze Nxumalo.

“Must we accept that only prominent people with celebrity-like statuses are deserving of justice when their dignity and good name is besmirched by social media personalities? It re-enforces the public’s perception of a two-tier justice system and erodes the public’s confidence in an NPA that is supposed to act without fear, favour or prejudice,” concludes Nel.

Also read: AfriForum goes beyond court after TikTok ‘racism’ post

AfriForum said it is hopeful that Chauke would ensure the matter is treated with the same urgency and attention he had previously given it, and that a decision to prosecute would be made soon.