Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has issued a formal legal demand against Democratic Alliance (DA) federal chairperson Helen Zille, calling on her to retract remarks about the City of Johannesburg and issue a public apology by close of business on Wednesday, 11 November 2026.

The demand, sent by Malema’s lawyers, England Slabbert Attorneys Inc, on 9 November, follows an interview Zille gave to eNCA on Sunday, 8 November. In it, Zille said that Herman Mashaba, when he was Johannesburg mayor under the DA, had effectively become the EFF’s mayor, and that he allowed Malema to dictate major decisions, capture City Power, dictate the fleet tender and act in Malema’s interests and those of his front companies in order to stay in power. She also said Mashaba appointed Shadrack Sibiya as head of the city’s anti-corruption unit on Malema’s instruction.

Malema’s lawyers reject those claims. In the letter of demand, they describe the statements as false and defamatory, and say they were made without any basis and were calculated to cause serious harm to Malema’s reputation as a public and political figure. No court has ruled on whether the statements were defamatory.

What the letter demands

The letter demands that Zille retract the statements in a public statement, apologise for the allegations, and publish the retraction and apology across her social media accounts, including Facebook, X and Instagram. It also asks for the statement to be issued as a press statement to media houses, for its wording to be submitted to Malema’s lawyers for approval before publication, and for a written undertaking not to repeat the statements.

The demands must be met by close of business on Wednesday, 11 November 2026. Malema’s lawyers say that if Zille does not comply, they have instructions to institute further legal action without further notice, including a claim for damages and an interdict restraining any further publication of the statements.

The Johannesburg background

The dispute reaches back to Mashaba’s time as Johannesburg mayor, from 22 August 2016 to 27 November 2019, when he led the city under a DA-led coalition. Mashaba resigned in October 2019 after differences with the party leadership. He now leads ActionSA, which is in coalition talks with other parties after South Africa’s local government elections left Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni without an outright winner.

Zille, the DA’s mayoral candidate for Johannesburg, said in the interview that her disagreement with Mashaba began during his mayoral term, when she believed coalition management should not be about staying in power at all costs. She said she had never spoken badly of him in public and had said nothing against ActionSA during the election campaign.

Neither Zille nor the DA had issued an official public response to the legal notice as of Tuesday morning. The row adds a legal confrontation to an already tense post-election period in Gauteng, where parties are negotiating who will govern the province’s three hung metropolitan councils. Read the full letter of demand on NewsDay and the report on The Business Weekly.