ANC Johannesburg’s new Chairperson, Loyiso Masuku after winning an election during the 16th Regional Conference at at the CedarWoods Hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg, 5 December 2025. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/ The Citizen The New Year has begun on a positive note for the newly elected ANC Johannesburg Regional Chairperson, Loyiso Masuku, after she won an urgent defamation case against her. The judgment was handed down by the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Johannesburg on 31 December 2025.
Masuku, who defeated Dada Morero to become the first woman to lead the Johannesburg region of the ANC, sought an interdict against political analyst and podcast host Phapano Phasha for making defamatory remarks about her in public. In a podcast, Phasha stated that Masuku belongs to a so-called “PPE cartel” and suggested that she bought votes to defeat Morero. She was also labelled a “psychopath”.
Masuku’s husband, former Gauteng health MEC Bandile Masuku, and former presidential spokesperson Khusela Diko were linked to a Covid-19 personal protective equipment (PPE) procurement controversy in 2020, following the awarding of a multimillion-rand tender by the provincial health department to Royal Bhaca, a company owned by Diko’s late husband, Thandisizwe Diko. Judge Mahomed J found Phasha’s statements to be false, defamatory, unlawful, and malicious, and ordered the podcast producer to remove the episode from platforms such as YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. “The timing and the platform used show an intention to cause reputational harm.” Judge Mahomed J also ordered Phasha to publish a “clear and unequivocal” retraction and apology within 24 hours, with the same prominence as the original publication, and barred her from repeating the claims about Masuku’s alleged PPE cartel involvement or vote-buying.
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