‘I am remorseful’: Ngizwe Mchunu swiftly apologises to court after arrest warrant

Former Ukhozi FM radio personality Ngizwe Mchunu appears at Randburg Magistrate’s Court on November 03, 2023 in Randburg, South Africa. Mchunu appeared on charges related to the public violence that led to the destruction of properties during the 2021 July unrest, as well as contravening the COVID-19 regulations. Picture: Gallo Images/Sharon Seretlo Cultural activist and former radio presenter Ngizwe Mchunu has wasted no time apologising to the North Gauteng High Court hours after he was found to be in contempt of court.

The court in Pretoria issued a warrant of arrest against Mchunu on Friday, after finding that he violatedprevious court ordersmade in May, which prohibited him from making and repeating defamatory remarks about EFF leader Julius Malema. This after Malema approached the court on an urgent basis following Mchunu’s remarks during separate media interviews in Pretoria on Tuesday, 28 April, and in Johannesburg on Thursday, 30 April. Mchunuwas quoted in previous court papers as having said: “Julius Malema… he recently got 60 million from the Nigerian drug dealers; that’s why he is highly protected and is also willing to lose everything that he has, politically, in order to protect Nigerians and other illegal immigrants.

“He is eating money of illegal foreigners; he is getting 60 million from illegal foreigners, this Julius Malema. I do not care what he does; he is a dead snake. His time is over.

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Julius Malema, you are a dog; you sold the people of South Africa to illegal foreigners. I am not scared of you, my boy…” In his application, Malema demanded that Mchunu apologise and retract the statements, with an additional R1 million settlement. Earlier on Friday, the court found that Mchunu “intentionally and unlawfully” republished the statements, violating the court’s orders.

It ordered that he be detained in prison for 10 days should he fail to apologise. “Mr Mchunu shall also distribute the apology to all media houses with which he conducted interviews and repeated the prohibited statements, including King Zoso’s TikTok account (@kingzoso_saa).” If Mchunu complies, the warrant and detention will be suspended for a period of six months from the date of apology, considering he does not repeat the statement during that time.

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