ANC national executive committee member Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has welcomed a Johannesburg high court judgment ordering that her defamation dispute with ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula be determined through oral evidence.
On Friday, Judge Henno Viljoen ruled that Dlamini-Zuma and Mbalula should take the stand to give evidence to settle the matter.
Viljoen also ordered that any witnesses either party wishes to call must be approved by the court and accompanied by an affidavit from the proposed witness setting out their evidence in sufficient detail to allow the court to assess the justification for calling them.
In a statement, Dlamini-Zuma said she welcomed Viljoen’s order, saying that she had respectfully submitted that the matter would be better determined by way of oral evidence.
“The Secretary-General asked the court for an order compelling me to retract and apologise for statements I made during an interview on the African Renaissance Podcast. The court has made no such order.
“It has directed instead that the central factual question be determined through oral evidence from us and witnesses. I remain committed to cooperating with the court's processes.”
Dlamini-Zuma said that if the ANC was to renew itself, it had to honestly confront the use of money in its internal elective processes.
She added that, out of respect for the court, she would not argue the matter further in the public domain.
The dispute stems from comments Dlamini-Zuma made during an August interview with the African Renaissance Podcast, in which she accused Mbalula of paying delegates at the ANC’s December 2022 elective conference, where he was elected secretary-general.
Dlamini-Zuma said there was a problem in the ANC whereby leadership outcomes were being decided through the buying of votes.
She alleged that Mbalula had openly dished out money to delegates at a clinic to influence the conference’s electoral outcome, saying it was not a secret. She said the money had been used to ensure that Mbalula and ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa were elected.
Mbalula has denied the allegations, saying they were false and made to defame him.
“I emphatically deny these allegations as there is no merit to any of them. The respondent cannot point to or provide any shred of evidence regarding these spurious and unfounded allegations.”
In her court papers, Dlamini-Zuma disputed Mbalula’s denial and attached an affidavit from a person who she said had been present, participated in and benefited from the alleged distribution of money.
“I am not alone in knowing that the applicant was engaged in this. There are many people in the ANC who witnessed this, but some of them fear for their lives and are reluctant to come out.”
Dlamini-Zuma also attached an affidavit from Mandla Themba Sibiya of the Mzala Nxumalo region, who said he had been present when Mbalula distributed money to delegates at the 2022 conference.
Sibiya said he had witnessed the distribution and had also benefited financially. He said he was ready to confront the issue of money being used to buy votes at ANC conferences.