Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s ex-girlfriend, Norma Mbatha has opened a case of defamation and violation of the Protection of Personal Information (Popi) Act against his adviser and ANC heavyweight Keith Khoza. Mbatha, a businesswoman and the ANCWL branch convener in ward 126 in Roodepoort opened the case at Honeydew police station last week.
Mbatha claims the violation emanates from Khoza sharing a copy of the protection order he obtained against her on behalf of Mashatile which went viral on social media last week. The leak revealed her residential address which she says has put her life at risk.
Mbatha also wrote a letter to the ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula on Tuesday, stating she needed Luthuli House bigwigs to intervene on what she said was an orchestrated attack on her by Khoza.
She alleged in the letter that a Sunday newspaper published a “distorted story that may seem like someone has fed the newspaper with selected and distorted information to serve an agenda I would like to distance myself from”.
“It is with regret that such matters had to be addressed on a public platform. Upon fear of victimisation and without divulging details on this correspondence, I wish to clarify some of the sensitive points raised in my name. Detailed information will be revealed in a private session that one hope (sic) to have with your office. I have not been served with any kind of a court order that is from the Deputy President Paul Mashatile,” said Mbatha in the letter to Mbalula.
She also stated that despite having had engagements with another ex-girlfriend of Mashatile, Gugu Nkosi, the accusations of any plot against the ANC deputy president were unfounded.
“I would like to state openly that I have NO grievance against the Deputy President Paul Mashatile,” said Mbatha. She claimed the Sunday publication seemed to be in possession of an interim protection order against her. “The said interim protection order has been clustered with several messages from various recipients, which have been taken out of context… to mislead the public and defame my character. There has been a serious breach of the Popi Act by Mr Khoza. “Further to this, there has been defamation against me, and my character has been called into question,” reads the letter.
Mbatha stated that due to the sensitivity of the matter, she would disclose her issues to the official(s) assigned by Mbalula’s office to deal with her concerns.
On Thursday, Mbatha met one of the top cops in the country regarding her case. A day before, the ANCWL in her branch wrote a letter to the zonal task team of the league saying it had held a meeting with Mbatha regarding the matter.
The letter, which we have seen, reads in parts: “We believe there are serious accusations laid against Cde Norma in her personal capacity without due consideration of all facts. “We therefore pledge our support to Cde Norma on 17 April, where she is expected to appear in court.”
Mbatha confirmed to have sent the letter to Mbalula and blasted Khoza: “Keith can be very manipulative, and he is a snake. I have never asked money from Keith and this extortion story is nonsense and [especially using] the name of the deputy president in Keith’s mess. I don’t have issues with Paul. Keith should remove Paul’s name in that nonsense interim protection order and shouldn’t use Paul to settle scores. I am scared that my security is compromised because of Keith, but the police are working on this matter.”
Khoza said Mbatha was taking chances: “I am aware of the case Norma has opened, and there is a policewoman who called me. This matter will be resolved in court, and she has been sending me threats and I reacted by going to court to get an interdict against her. I understand that she had opened a case of defamation and I don’t know what that is. “At the moment I won’t say anything, safe to say that this matter is in court.” Mbalula had not responded to our questions sent to him at the time of going to print.
Gauteng police spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi confirmed that Mbatha opened a case against Khoza.
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