The North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, has granted an urgent interim order against a group of anonymous social media accounts accused of linking former crime intelligence chief Mulangi Mphego to the death of Lt-Gen Sindile Mfazi and alleged Phala Phala-related documents.
Judge Bonakele Mkhabela granted the order on May 26 after allowing Mphego to approach the court on an urgent basis. Meta platforms, TikTok and X were cited as interested parties, although no substantive relief was granted against them at this stage.
The order targets accounts identified in court papers as “Baas Kruger”; “@Exposure.News”; “@LadyAbahambe”, also known as “Abahambe Majola”; and the Instagram and Threads account “Chumanivava”.
The court interdicted the accounts from “publishing, reposting, sharing, commenting upon, tagging, mentioning, disseminating, amplifying or causing to be published” any statement alleging or implying that Mphego “murdered, caused, assisted, conspired in, participated in, concealed or had any involvement in the death of the late Lt-Gen SC (Sindile) Mfazi”.
Mfazi was assassinated by poisoning in July 2021. While his death was initially attributed to Covid-19 complications, independent toxicology results later revealed that he was poisoned with liquid casting resin.
The order further bars the accounts from alleging that Mphego “raided, unlawfully entered, searched, interfered with or removed any item from the late Lt-Gen SC Mfazi’s home”.
The court also restrained the accounts from claiming that Mphego “stole, removed, concealed or interfered with files, records, documents or alleged Phala Phala-related documents from the late Lt-Gen SC Mfazi’s home”.
Another part of the order stops anyone from saying that Mphego “acted unlawfully, corruptly, criminally or at the request of President Cyril Ramaphosa” regarding Mfazi, his family, his home, or any documents related to Phala Phala.
Mkhabela further interdicted the accounts from publishing threatening, abusive or inciting statements directed at Mphego and from publishing material capable of causing people to “confront, intimidate, threaten, follow, approach, locate or harm” him, his family, employees, colleagues, business associates or the people close to him.
The court also ordered the respondents to remove, delete or disable access to the publications complained of, including “any substantially similar posts, reposts, threads, comments, stories, reels, videos, images and publications” under their control.
Pending the return date, the respondents were ordered not to “delete, conceal, alter, transfer, deactivate, rename or otherwise interfere” with any account, post, message, communication, login record, administrator record, linked email address, linked cellular number, IP address, device identifier or other information that might assist in “identifying the person or persons responsible for the publications complained of”.
The court granted Mphego leave, upon receipt of identifying information from SAPS, electronic communications service providers, platform operators or other respondents, nbto supplement his papers and “join any identified person as a respondent”.
The respondents have been called upon to appear before the court on July 13 to show cause why the interim order should not be made final. The order remains in force with immediate effect pending the return date.
- The North Gauteng High Court issued an urgent interim order against anonymous social media accounts accused of falsely linking former crime intelligence chief Mulangi Mphego to Lt-Gen Sindile Mfazi's death and Phala Phala-related documents.
- Accounts interdicted include “Baas Kruger,” “@Exposure.News,” “@LadyAbahambe,” and “Chumanivava” on Instagram and Threads, barring them from making defamatory allegations about Mphego's involvement in Mfazi's poisoning or related matters.
- Lt-Gen Mfazi died from poisoning by liquid casting resin in 2021, initially misattributed to COVID-19, prompting the court to restrict false claims of Mphego's criminal actions connected to Mfazi or the Phala Phala affair.
- The order prohibits threatening or inciting harassment against Mphego and his associates and requires removal of offending posts while preserving evidence to identify those responsible.
- Respondents must appear in court on July 13 to argue why the interim order should not become permanent, with the injunction effective immediately.
