Julius Malema and his former friend-turned-foe Jossey Buthane will face off in court later this year in a defamation suit about allegations surrounding the EFF chief’s weight loss journey.
Malema is suing Buthane for a 2024 Facebook post that suggested he lost weight after undergoing gastric bypass surgery.
These claims, Malema contends, are false, defamatory and harmful to his public image.
He wants Buthane, the former EFF provincial leader who has since defected to the ANC, to apologise and pay him damages for impugning and defaming him.
This is contained in court papers first filed in 2024, which were only placed on the roll at the Limpopo high court last year, with both parties expected to appear in October.
Malema attaches Buthane’s comments made on Facebook where he alleges that they underwent the same weight loss procedure. He refuses to remove them.
Buthane wrote: “I went to the same Dr with your CIC [Malema] for gastric bypass ba re fokoditse mala [they reduced our belly/stomach].”
He added, “I am not joking, you can ask him,” when probed further.
Malema wants the court to declare these comments defamatory, order their removal, direct Buthane to issue an “unconditional” apology and pay damages the quantity of which will be determined by the court.
“This application is necessary to protect my right to my good name and reputation. I have attempted to resolve the dispute without litigation, to no avail. As the facts will show, the respondent has refused and/or failed to accede to my demands that the defamatory publications be fully retracted and, for an apology to be issued,” said Malema in the court papers.
Malema details how his weight loss journey started in 2014 after he married with the results showing from around 2016/2017.
The weight-loss journey, he said, included exercises and eating healthily. To suggest that he underwent surgery portrays him as a liar.
Malema said that the late statesman Nelson Mandela played a huge role in his decision to start living a healthier life, especially after his death in 2013.
He relayed an engagement with Mandela where he pulled him aside and told him that he had to lose weight if he had serious ambitions of one day running the country.
“He told me that I need to exercise and that I need to eat healthy. I promised Mandela that I will make it my priority to lose weight and to live a healthy lifestyle,” said Malema.
Soon after I got married in December 2014, I started my weight loss journey in a more dedicated and committed way. I say this because my wife supported me unconditionally in my decision to live a healthier lifestyle. With my wife’s support, it became easier for me to achieve and maintain this goal.
— EFF leader Julius Malema
Following Mandela’s death the promise became more pronounced in his mind as he reflected about his relationship with the late president.
“In this process, my promise to Mandela to lose weight and to stay healthy featured prominently in my mind,” said Malema.
“Soon after I got married in December 2014, I started my weight-loss journey in a more dedicated and committed way. I say this because my wife supported me unconditionally in my decision to live a healthier lifestyle. With my wife’s support, it became easier for me to achieve and maintain this goal.”
“My body and overall physique started changing around 2016-17. I started losing weight. I focused on exercise and made changes to my diet.”
He reiterated that he had not had gastric bypass surgery and is “deeply hurt” by Buthane’s allegations, which he described as far-fetched and reckless.
Malema admitted that he and Buthane used to be close allies, but their relationship soured after the EFF disbanded the Limpopo branch to which Buthane belonged.
Buthane’s statements, read by people who know their past relationship, suggest that when they were close the two shared a doctor and underwent the same surgical procedure to lose weight and that he was living such an unhealthy lifestyle that he needed a medical intervention.
All these, Malema contends, suggested that: “I deceived the public regarding the manner in which I lost weight. I personally made no effort to lose weight and instead I turned to medical treatment to lose weight”.
“The explicit message that was conveyed is that I misled the public by saying one thing, but doing something else. This conveys dishonesty and deceit on my part,” he said.
Malema said Buthane’s statements are defamatory and unlawful and that impugned statements are untrue, vexatious, spurious and misplaced.
He is asking the court to force Buthane to remove the Facebook posts, issue a public apology and pay him damages.
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