By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Judgment has been reserved in the case involving two of Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s friends, businessmen Bridgman Sithole and Mike Maile, to keep their names out of ‘Alex Mafia’ reporting.
The businessmen filed an urgent application in the High Court seeking an interdict against Media24. The interdict aims to prohibit the publication of their names in connection with the term ‘Alex Mafia’, which links them to an alleged criminal syndicate operating in Alexandra township.
The term ‘Alex Mafia’ has been widely used in public discourse, political circles, and the media for the past 15 years. It refers to a group of close friends, including Sithole and Maile, who are political activists from Alexandra.
Sithole and Maile were listed by journalist Adriaan Basson in a 2007 article as being part of a “mafia” group in Alexandra township. At the time, Mashatile was then the Gauteng finance MEC.
Basson, now editor-in-chief at News24, in more recent articles claimed Mashatile obtained control of various agencies, while MEC, by appointing “friends and comrades”. While Sithole and Maile do not deny being long-time friends of Mashatile, they deny any illicit dealings.
Sithole and Maile, in court papers, say these allegations, despite being a “rehash” almost 15 years later, are “unsubstantiated and unproven”.
As a result of Mashatile’s appointment as deputy president, he is back in the media spotlight. They note that despite unrelated allegations against Mashatile now surfacing, “[They] get thrown under the bus as part of the exercise in discussing dodgy dealings”, said advocate Jonathan Berger in court on Wednesday.
They are seeking an interdict to stop Media24 from referring to them as members of the “Alex mafia”. The interdict is interim, until a judgment is reached in a defamation trial they intend bringing.
Media24’s counsel, Max Du Plessis, argued there were several “fatal flaws” in Sithole and Maile’s argument. For example, he told judge Ingrid Opperman, “they never confront case law that a prepublication ban is a very serious invasion of media freedom”.
Du Plessis argued there is no urgency in the matter, as their association with the “Alex mafia” is in the public domain. Media24 also argued “Alex mafia” is not defamatory as it has often been used in political discourse.