WeeklySA_AdminFRACAS: Jozi FM’s bitter governance battle has taken a new turn, with board member Thulani Mhlongo demanding R150 000 over allegations he says falsely portrayed him as facing multiple criminal cases — raising the prospect of yet another court fight at the Soweto community broadcaster…
By WSAM Reporter
The governance turmoil engulfing Jozi FM has taken another legal turn, with board member Thulani Mhlongo demanding R150 000 from the broadcaster over allegations he says falsely portrayed him as facing multiple criminal cases.
The bitter dispute over the control of Jozi FM has escalated beyond the boardroom, with board member Thulani Mhlongo threatening legal action against the Soweto Media Resource Centre (SMRC), which trades as Jozi FM, over what he describes as malicious and defamatory allegations against him.
Through Mokgothu Attorneys, Mhlongo has demanded R150 000 in damages, giving the organisation 10 days to pay before summons could be issued.
The demand, dated August 14, follows a media statement which Mhlongo’s lawyers say created the impression that he was a rapist and was facing multiple criminal offences. The attorneys contend that the allegations were false and had damaged their client’s reputation.
The latest legal threat adds another dimension to a widening battle for control of the prominent Soweto-based community radio station, coming weeks after the Gauteng High Court intervened in a dispute over who may legitimately exercise powers over the broadcaster.
In the letter addressed to Jozi FM’s board of directors, Mokgothu Attorneys said Mhlongo regarded allegations contained in the station’s media statement as malicious, defamatory and wrongful.
According to the lawyers, the statement was understood by their client to mean that he was “a rapist” facing multiple rape offences — an assertion they emphatically reject.
Mhlongo, in a statement incorporated into the demand, accused his detractors of falsely linking him to sexual assault and multiple rape offences involving disabled minors.
He denied the allegations and challenged those making them to report any alleged offences through the appropriate authorities.
Mhlongo said the claims threatened both his personal reputation and his commercial standing because his career as a businessman and social media personality depended partly on his public profile.
“My career is founded on my influence and social standing,” Mhlongo said in the letter, adding that he intended to fight what he regarded as an attempt at character assassination.
His attorneys also invoked the principle of the presumption of innocence, arguing that portraying their client as guilty before such guilt had been established by a court was misplaced.
The lawyers claim the alleged defamation has caused Mhlongo reputational damages amounting to R150 000.
They have demanded payment within 10 days of the August 14 letter and warned that failure to comply would result in legal proceedings being instituted without further notice. Mhlongo has reserved his right to seek further relief from the courts.
The defamation dispute emerges against the backdrop of an already complicated fight over the governance of Jozi FM.
Last month, the Gauteng Local Division of the High Court in Johannesburg granted interim relief in proceedings brought by Rapitse Peter Montsho against SMRC and several respondents, including Mhlongo.
Acting Judge Dreyer’s July 23 order restrained the second to tenth respondents from holding themselves out as duly appointed directors, office bearers or authorised representatives of SMRC pending the determination of the substantive Part B application.
The order also prohibited them from exercising board powers, conducting board meetings, implementing board resolutions or making governance, administrative, financial, employment and operational decisions on behalf of the organisation.
They were further barred from representing themselves to ICASA, the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission, financial institutions, employees, suppliers, advertisers and other stakeholders as constituting the lawful board.
Pending the determination of Part B, the court placed governance of SMRC under an interim board comprising Montsho, Thulani Eugene Mhlongo and Jozi FM chief executive Mpho Mhlongo. The court also ordered Montsho to convene an annual general meeting within 60 days.
The substantive court proceedings are expected ultimately to settle the contested question of who is legally entitled to govern the community broadcaster.
The latest letter suggests, however, that the conflict is increasingly spreading from questions of corporate governance into disputes over the reputations and conduct of individuals caught up in the struggle.
Crucially, Mhlongo’s assertions contained in the August 14 demand remain allegations made on his behalf and have not been tested in court. The letter itself does not provide details of the Jozi FM media statement beyond describing the allegations Mhlongo says it contained.
Likewise, the demand for R150 000 does not amount to a court award. Should Jozi FM reject the demand and Mhlongo proceed with litigation, he would have to establish his defamation claim through the courts.
For Jozi FM, the threatened action means that an organisation already facing a potentially consequential battle over its leadership could soon find itself defending another case — this time over what was said publicly amid the increasingly acrimonious fight for control.
