Malema, Mamabolo reach settlement over domestic abuse claims

EFF leader Julius Malema and ANC MP Boy Mamabolo have reached a settlement that was immediately made an order of the court on Wednesday.

Malema and his wife, Mantoa, approached the Limpopo High Court on an urgent basis seeking R2 million in damages from Mamabolo.

This was after Mamabolo accused Malema of abusing his wife during the State of the Nation address in parliament last month. Mamabolo was served with papers demanding R2 million for defamation.

On Wednesday, the two parties reached a settlement before the merits of the case was argued in court.

In terms of the order, Mamabolo will issue an apology to be posted on social media and published in The Sowetan in which his statement was also published.

He was also ordered not to repeat the statement that Malema abused his wife. He will also pay for Malema’s legal costs.

The settlement was commended by Acting Judge Thogomela Cautious Tshidada.

Before signing off the settlement into an order of the court, Tshidada said: “Both parties’ legal representatives approached me in chambers for permission to engage one another to see if an applicable resolution of this matter can be achieved or not.

“In this instance, there was no need for mediation for the parties to reach a settlement. The parties were able to find one another.

“I perused the draft order, and I find no issues that could warrant court intervention. The parties reached the settlement voluntarily. The draft order is therefore made an order of the court,” Tshidada said.

Malema and his wife, who both were not in attendance, were represented by advocate Thembeka Ngcukaitobi while Mamabolo was represented by advocate H Phukubje.

Earlier, the two parties argued about the application for condonation of the late filing of opposing papers by Mamabolo.

However, after lengthy arguments, Tshidada dismissed the application.

It was then that the two parties started to engage each other on the settlement.

Mamabolo told News24 afterwards: “I’m happy we settled the matter. Life will go on in parliament. We must not bring personal issues to parliament.

“I’ll continue to serve the ANC and he [Malema] will continue to serve the EFF.”

EFF provincial leader Jossey Buthane called on the ANC and parliament to dismiss Mamabolo. However, he said the party was satisfied with the settlement.

“He was abusive by bringing families into politics. He brought untold pain to parliament to score cheap political points,” Buthane added.

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