Mbuyiseni Ndlozi Dragged Into Fikile Mbalula’s Legal Battle With Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
- Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma filed court papers challenging Fikile Mbalula's defamation application against her
- Dlamini-Zuma argued that Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, who hosted the podcast where she made the disputed remarks, was not joined to the proceedings
- The former Cabinet minister denied her comments were defamatory and insisted she was engaging in political commentary about vote-buying in the ANC
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Source: UGC
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has put Mbuyiseni Ndlozi at the centre of her legal fight against ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula, arguing that the former EFF MP and podcast host should have been included in the defamation proceedings against her.
Mbalula took the matter to the Joburg High Court after Dlamini-Zuma allegedly stated on Ndlozi's African Renaissance Podcast that Mbalula had paid delegates at a clinic to secure their votes during the ANC's 2022 secretary-general leadership contest. Mbalula has denied the claims, calling them defamatory and damaging to his standing as Luthuli House boss.
Dlamini-Zuma challenges case on procedural grounds
In papers filed at the Joburg High Court last week, Dlamini-Zuma described Mbalula's application as "procedurally defective, factually unsupported and substantively without merit." A central part of her defence rests on the argument that she exercised no editorial control over the platform where the remarks were broadcast.
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"The publication occurred on 3 August 2026 on the African Renaissance Podcast, hosted by Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi. I do not own, control or exercise editorial oversight over the podcast platform," she stated in her court papers.
She further noted that "the host, Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, has not been joined" to the proceedings.
Dlamini-Zuma also rejected the characterisation of her comments as defamatory, arguing that they were made within the context of political discourse about financial influence in ANC elections.
The former Cabinet minister pushed back on Mbalula's suggestion that she should have taken her concerns to law enforcement, insisting her words were never intended as a crime report.
"My statements were made in the context of political commentary. I was not reporting a crime," she stated.
She also pointed out that Mbalula, as ANC secretary-general, had access to the party's internal disciplinary mechanisms.
She is asking the court to dismiss the application and have the matter resolved through the ANC's own internal structures instead. Africa Daily reported that Ndlozi had not responded to written questions sent to him via WhatsApp when the story was published.
Source: Instagram
Mbuyiseni Ndlozi reacts to Ernst Roets’ apartheid post
In a previous report, Briefly News shared that Mbuyiseni Ndlozi fired back at Afrikaner activist Ernst Roets after he posted a comparison between apartheid rule and ANC governance.
The former EFF politician accused the ANC of confirming racist notions about Africans through decades of incompetence and greed.
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Source: Briefly News
