Unisa wins court battle after repeated defamatory statements

The University of South Africa (Unisa) on Friday welcomed the decision of the Pretoria high court dismissing an application for leave to appeal by a man who had defamed the university and its leadership. Simamkele Xani had previously made a number of false and defamatory statements againstUnisaand its vice chancellor Puleng LenkaBula in 2024. Unisa then obtained a final order in November 2024 interdicting Xani from continuing his attacks.

However, in November 2025, Xani again launched a defamatory attack against the university, its council, management and other prominent public figures and politicians, and continued with his defamatory statements through to December 2025. The university filed an urgent application against him in January this year for violation of the 2024 court interdict and continued defamation. In a judgment passed on February 2, the court confirmed the validity of the November 2024 order and again interdicted Xani from continuing to attack or make defamatory statements against the university, its management, the university council andLenkaBula.

The court further ordered Xani to retract all defamatory publications and to issue an apology to LenkaBula and the university. The court ordered that Xani be incarcerated for 60 days, alternatively, to pay a fine of R50,000. The incarceration order was not to be executed unless Xani breached the terms of the court order of November 2024.

[paywall]

However, Xani filed an application for leave to appeal the February 2 judgment. His appeal was subsequently heard on March 3. Xani’s application for leave to appeal was dismissed with costs.

Unisa said the latest order confirmed that the order of November 2024 remained valid and that he was in contempt of court. “It is noteworthy that all applications brought by the university against Mr Xani have been successful. Conversely, all the applications he has brought against the university have been dismissed by the court,” the university said in a statement.

Unisa said it was regrettable that, despite the court’s clear directives, Xani failed to comply with the order to retract his defamatory statements and to apologise to LenkaBula and the university. The institution said despite its legal representatives formally writing to Xani to remind him of the court order and calling on him to comply, this had not happened. It said Xani has still not complied with the court order even after his leave to appeal was dismissed.

“In view of this, the university is considering further legal steps to enforce the court order. If prosecuted successfully, Mr Xani is facing a prison term of six months or a fine of R50,000.”

[/paywall]