Supra Mahumapelo.
Frennie Shivambu, Gallo Images
- ANC MP Supra Mahumapelo is suing a group of party members known as the “revolutionary council” for R10 million.
- Mahumapelo claims the grouping defamed his character, which caused irreparable harm to his reputation and dignity.
- The council is challenging the application.
Former North West premier and ANC chairperson Supra Mahumapelo is still fighting to clear his name – this time he’s hauling three members of the “revolutionary council” to court, suing them for R10 million in “pursuit of justice”.
Themba Gwabeni, Thato Magogodi and Lucky Kgabi, who form part of the collective, have been accused by Mahumapelo of defaming his character.
The council was critical in the downfall of Mahumapelo as both premier and chairperson in the platinum rich province.
In a summons by Morweng attorneys, stamped by the North West High Court on 25 May, the now ANC MP’s lawyers cited a News24 article from 2018, where Magogodi said they wanted Mahumapelo removed within 48 hours otherwise they would call people back to the streets to escalate a civil disobedience campaign unfolding in the province during that period.
On page 9 of the application, the former premier complains that the defendants accused him of being corrupt, incompetent, having engaged in criminal activities and promoted corruption.
“My lawyers say I shouldn’t say anything, but all I want is for justice to be done,” Mahumapelo told News24 when asked for comment.
“It’s in pursuit of distilling truths from facts and pursuit of justice,” he added.
Mahumapelo said this had injured his reputation and that he had suffered damages amounting to R10 million due to a loss of income.
The MP said in the documents:
The defendants made the impugned statement unlawfully and with the intention to injure the plaintiff’s reputation and defames the plaintiff.
Violent protests erupted in the North West as calls of “Supra must fall” made the rounds, following the election of President Cyril Ramaphosa as ANC president and subsequently his appointment as the country’s head of state.
He also claimed the unrest was linked to the CR17 fund, which was used for Ramaphosa’s campaign for the ANC presidency at its Nasrec elective conference in 2017.
Mahumapelo stepped down as premier, a move which was followed by the disbandment of his provincial executive committee in the ANC.
He successfully challenged the disbandment in the High Court, in the lead up to the 2019 national elections – this included an order allowing him to return to his office as ANC provincial chair immediately.
However, this never materialised as the governing party reached an agreement between warring factions in the North West.
His application also comes at a time when the ANC race for a provincial chairperson heats up, with some in the platinum belt claiming Mahumapelo is desperate to return to the helm of the province.
According to insiders close to Mahumapelo, the “revolutionary council” has circulated messages on social media, asking for donations to fight the former provincial chair in the courts.
In the message, which News24 has seen, the group lists banking details asking for help and saying it had already filed a motion to defend the matter in the High Court and that it sees the claims as baseless and an attempt to threaten and intimidate other ANC members.
Kgabi said they would rather not comment on the matter.
“We do not want to get into the merits of the case because it is sub-judice. Safe to say we will be defending ourselves,” he said.
