By Anita Dangazele
- EFF leader Julius Malema’s R1-million defamation case against Kenny Kunene was struck off the Johannesburg High Court roll on Tuesday, 9 June 2026, after his lawyers missed a filing deadline.
- Kunene is the third person Malema has taken to court this year. Blogger Musa Khawula and podcaster Ngizwe Mchunu are also fighting Malema in court over things they said about him.
Julius Malema has taken three people to court in 2026. The latest is Kenny Kunene — and Kunene is fighting back.
Malema’s R1-million defamation case against the Patriotic Alliance deputy president was struck off the roll at the Johannesburg High Court on Tuesday, 9 June 2026.
His counsel had failed to upload their heads of argument onto Caselines, the court’s online case management system, by the deadline set by the acting deputy judge president. The papers went up the morning of the hearing. The judge asked when they were uploaded. The advocate answered: 08:40 that morning.
The matter will be re-enrolled once the procedural issue is fixed.
The case stems from a February 2026 episode of Podcast and Chill with MacG, where Kunene claimed Malema made late-night visits to the farm of the late taxi boss Jotham “Mswazi” Msibi, a figure linked to an alleged criminal syndicate known as the Big Five cartel, and gifted him R80,000 in cash and expensive whiskey.
Kunene also alleged that Malema lived in the backroom of tobacco businessman Adriano Mazzotti’s property.
Malema is seeking R1 million. Kunene has refused to apologise or settle. In his answering affidavit, Kunene said this is the third lawsuit Malema has launched against him and accused the EFF leader of believing he alone has the right to freedom of expression.
It is not only Kunene.
Blogger Musa Khawula was found in contempt of court in May 2026 after refusing to comply with a High Court order to apologise to Malema and his wife, Mantoa Matlala Malema. Khawula had published posts claiming their marriage was over due to infidelity.
He was given a 30-day suspended prison sentence and eventually posted the apology on X in June, addressing it to “my sweet angel baby pie” and signing off “xo xo, gossip girl.”
Podcaster Ngizwe Mchunu is facing a separate urgent application in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, in which Malema is seeking six months’ imprisonment. Mchunu was already found guilty of contempt of a 5 June 2026 court order. The matter is set to be heard on 17 June 2026.
And then there is the case going the other way.
Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane is before the Eastern Cape High Court seeking to interdict Malema from repeating claims that Mabuyane fraudulently obtained a master’s degree from the University of Fort Hare.
Malema made the allegations outside a magistrate’s court in April, after his own sentencing on a firearm charge. Mabuyane demanded an apology by 21 April. When none came, he filed urgent proceedings. Judgment has been reserved.
Kunene put it plainly in his court papers: Malema believes only he has the right to freedom of expression.
The Eastern Cape High Court will decide, in due course, whether that cuts both ways.
Pictured above: EFF leader Julius Malema outside court.
Image source: Economic Freedom Fighters
