Court exposes futility of Anele Mda’s appeal against Mbalula: ‘No sound, rational basis’

Social commentator Anele Mda has been dealt another blow after her application for leave to appeal a defamation ruling in favour of ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula was dismissed.

The Gauteng High Court dismissed Mda’s application for leave to appeal a defamation ruling on Thursday.

Ruling

In the scathing ruling, Judge Selby Baqwa dismissed Anele Mda’s application for leave to appeal, ruling that her case had “no sound, rational basis” and relied on “flimsy hearsay evidence.”

The court found that Mda’s repeated grounds of appeal were misconstrued, her attempt to introduce new evidence inadmissible, and her defamatory statements against Mbalula both false and malicious.

“I am not persuaded that the applicant meets the test for leave to appeal on any of the two statutory provisions on which she relies.”

Mda’s attempts to introduce new material were also dismissed as hearsay and irrelevant.

ALSO READ: Mbalula launches urgent court bid against Anele Mda over Bozwana murder posts

Previous judgement

The ruling follows an August 2025 judgment in which the court found Mda’s social media posts linking Mbalula to the 2015 murder of tender tycoon Wandile Bozwana are “false and defamatory”, ordering her to remove the posts and apologise for them.

Mda was also restrained and interdicted from publishing any statement that says or implies that Mbalula was directly or indirectly complicit in the killing of Bozwana.

While the decision effectively closes the appeal process at this level, Mda may still petition the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) for special leave to appeal.

Twitter post

In her first disputed tweet to Mbalula, Mda posted:

“Wena igama lakho liyavela ekubulaweni kuka Wandile Bozwana (Your name shows up/appears/is implicated in Bozwana’s murder). The question still stands: what were you doing in Sandton with the guys who were driving the car that followed Wandile Bozwana and whose occupants shot and instantly killed Bozwana in 2015, around Menlyn?

“Awusitsheli lokho! Kwa wena ufanelwe yijele gha (you don’t tell us that. Even you were supposed to be in jail/jailed).”

Murder

Bozwana, whom Mbalula describes as a “friend”, died in a hail of bullets along Garsfontein Road in Pretoria on 2 October 2015, while driving with business associate Betty Mpho Baloyi, who survived the attack.

Notorious taxi boss Vusi “Khekhe” Mathibela and his three co-accused – Sipho Patrick Hudla, Robert Mutapa and Bonginkosi Khumalo – were each sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder last year.

ALSO READ: Mamelodi taxi boss and co-accused found guilty of Wandile Bozwana’s murder