Former Muvhango producer Mpfariseni Mukwevho is girding his loins to defend the lawsuit filed against him by Muvhango creator and Word of Mouth Pictures boss Duma Ndlovu.
Mukwevho’s lawyer, Chris Mamathunsa, said they have filed papers to oppose the legal action instituted by Ndlovu.
Ndlovu filed papers in the Joburg High Court last month in which he is asking the court to give him an order to force Mukwevho to pay him back over R2 million he misused while working for his company.
He said the company paid Mukwevho the money to secure production locations for the soapie episodes. Ndlovu said he has since discovered that the payments were suspicious because they didn’t have signatures of recipients, among others.
But Mamathunsa said Mukwevho was innocent and would fight tooth and nail to defend him.
“Our client was accused of stealing an amount of R3, million rands from the production some years ago. He was subsequently arrested, spent several nights in custody at Johannesburg Correctional Services. He was eventually released on bail and later acquitted of all charges,” he said.
“In fact the matter was struck off the roll as Mr Duma and the State failed to produce proof that our client indeed stole the money, after several requests for them to produce same,” he added.
Mamathunsa said Mukwevho, who was a production manager at Muvhango, has since left that Ndlovu’s company and was running his own.
He said they have also filed a lawsuit against Ndlovu and the state for wrongful arrest.
“Following his arrest and detention, our client instructed us to launch two lawsuits, one against the Minister of Police and members of the SAPS for unlawful arrest and detention, two against Mr Dumakude Ndlovu for defamation. Both these lawsuits are set down for trial at the Johannesburg High Court this year. The one against the Minister of Police is set down for the 30th July 2020, and the one against Mr Dumakude Ndlovu is set down for the 2nd November 2020,” Mamathunsa said.
