South Africa: Malema Wants Ngizwe Mchunu Locked Up for Six Months

Julius Malema wants podcaster Ngizwe Mchunu behind bars for six months. He has gone to the High Court in Pretoria to make it happen.

Malema filed an urgent contempt of court application in the Gauteng High Court on Monday, 8 June 2026.

The application asks the court to declare Mchunu guilty of contempt and sentence him to six months in prison with no option of a fine. It also seeks a warrant of arrest and orders the Minister of Police and the National Commissioner of the South African Police Service to arrest Mchunu if he does not hand himself in.

The application states that on 6 June 2026, one day after the court issued an order against him, Mchunu intentionally continued making defamatory statements about the EFF leader and refused to comply with the court's directives.

That same day, Mchunu released a public apology. He said he accepted that court orders are binding and that compliance is fundamental to the administration of justice. He said he would stop making statements about Malema.

The 5 June order had already found Mchunu guilty of contempt for ignoring earlier court directives from May 2026. It ordered his arrest and detention for 10 days, suspended on condition that he publish an unreserved public apology across all his social media platforms.

The fresh application is set to be heard on 17 June 2026. Mchunu has until Wednesday, 10 June 2026, at 5pm to file an answering affidavit. If he does not appear at the hearing, the court may grant the order against him in his absence.

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