The Mpumalanga High Court has ordered a political activist to publicly apologise to former deputy president David Mabuza for accusing him of masterminding political murders in the province.

According to a ruling issued on Wednesday, Mabuza won the defamation case he brought against Pompie Letwaba, a former African National Congress (ANC) member and political activist in Mpumalanga.

On separate occasions in 2021, Letwaba made several allegations against Mabuza in television interviews broadcast on eNCA and Newzroom Afrika. Letwaba said Mabuza had been the mastermind behind political killings in Mpumalanga while serving as premier.

He listed various ANC politicians who had died mysteriously and attempted to link Mabuza to their deaths. Letwaba said former Mbombela speaker Jimmy Mohlala's murder was but one of the killings that took place in Mpumalanga since 2009.

A series of killings in the province's political circles have been reported over the years, but no links have been made to the former deputy president.

Mabuza approached the Mpumalanga High Court in 2022, asking it to interdict Letwaba from making defamatory public statements. He also demanded a public apology on the same news platforms used by Letwaba to defame him.

The court granted Mabuza's requests.

Letwaba had argued that his statements were made in the public interest, but the court disagreed.

"In my view, the statements made had the effect of damaging the reputation of the applicant. This is more so since these statements have nothing to do with the official duties of the applicant or their execution thereof. The statements levelled against the applicant were conspicuously offensive and had the effect of lowering the applicant in the eyes of a reasonable man," Judge Brian Mashile ruled.

"They had or have far-reaching consequences which have or will negatively affect the applicant personally and in his office. The statements made were defamatory," he added.

The judge ordered Letwaba to refrain from making any further public statements, which included that Mabuza:

• was responsible for killings while serving as premier of Mpumalanga,
• was responsible for problems in the country and the ANC,
• was responsible for the killing of whistleblowers,
• was one of South Africa's most feared politicians, and
• knew the identity of the masterminds of political assassinations in Mpumalanga and had caused cases against him to disappear.

Letwaba has been ordered to publicly apologise to Mabuza on eNCA, Newzroom Afrika and in the Citizen newspaper within 14 days.

If the news organisations refused to provide Letwaba the platform to make the apology, Mabuza would be entitled to approach the court for relief, Mashile ruled.

Letwaba has also been ordered to pay the costs of Mabuza's legal fees.