Controversial blogger Musa Khawula arrested AGAIN after evading arrest for days

Controversial South African blogger Musa Khawula’s attempts to evade arrest have come to an end. He was apprehended in KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday, 8 January 2025, and is now facing charges related to contraventions of the Cyber Crimes Act and crimen injuria.

The arrest was confirmed by Gauteng police spokesperson, Lieutenant-Colonel Mavela Masondo, who stated that a warrant had been issued for Khawula's arrest.

"Police can confirm that the suspect was arrested in KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday, January 8, 2025, after a warrant of arrest was issued against him. He is expected to appear before the Newcastle Magistrate’s Court, where the matter will be transferred to Gauteng. He is facing a charge of contravention of the Cyber Crime Act," Masondo said.

Khawula’s legal troubles stem from two separate lawsuits filed by businessman Ze Nxumalo and his wife, Tamaryn Green-Nxumalo. The first case involved allegations of defamation, resulting in a court order requiring Khawula to retract defamatory statements made on his X (formerly Twitter) account and issue a public apology. This order, issued by Judge Ettian Raubenheimer on 6 November, explicitly stated, “The respondent (Musa Khawula) is directed to permanently retract and remove the statements made by him on his X account.”

The judgement further prohibited Khawula from mentioning the couple’s names on social media or making further allegations against them.

The second, and now current, charge is crimen injuria. Vanessa Fernihough, the Nxumalos’ lawyer from Vanessa Fernihough & Associates, explained that this was a separate charge from the defamation case.

"There were two lawsuits. First one was defamation of character, for which Khawula was ordered to remove the tweets and apologise. The second one was a criminal charge, that of crimen injuria, which will now continue in court," she clarified.

A warrant of arrest had been issued for this second charge, which Khawula had successfully avoided for a period of time before his recent arrest.

The initial dispute arose from a social media post by Khawula last year, alleging that Ze Nxumalo had been unfaithful to his pregnant wife, Tamaryn Green-Nxumalo, with reality TV star and businesswoman Lebo Mokoena (ex-wife of businessman Lebo Gunguluza). Khawula's failure to comply with the court's order to retract his statements and apologise resulted in the issuance of the arrest warrant.

Despite expressing regret and offering apologies on multiple occasions in 2024, Khawula did not fully comply with the court's directives. He posted on X: “Askies hle Zesimdumise Nxumalo for saying you cheated on your wife, Dr Tamaryn Green, with Lebo Mokoena,” wrote Khawula.

“That was so wrong of me; how dare I. Will you please ensure that your wife gets this as well? Oh, what a kind man. God bless you.”

He also attempted to reassure the couple about certain posts, but this was insufficient to meet the court's requirements. His non-compliance ultimately led to his arrest and subsequent court appearance.