Thandi “Blue” Mbombo and Thami Ndlala are expected to face off in court on Monday, 12 October, after their scheduled appearance on Friday, 9 October, was moved because Thami was travelling on a business trip.
The matter relates to an interim protection order Blue obtained against Thami at the Randburg Magistrate’s Court in September. Thami is expected to respond to the application and explain why the order should not be made permanent.
The court appearance comes amid a public dispute that has seen Blue make serious allegations against the businessman, who has denied them, while separately obtaining an urgent High Court order restricting the publication of specific allegations against him.
How the dispute began
Blue went public with her allegations in early October, claiming that she had endured months of death threats, verbal abuse and emotional torment.
In a statement, she alleged that Thami had hired people to intimidate her and that the situation escalated when her young daughter was allegedly threatened.
“My naivety had led me to believe that he would grow tired and stop. Instead, he persisted, and things got worse,” Blue said.
She explained that she had initially hoped to resolve the matter privately but decided to speak out because she feared for her safety and that of her child.
Blue also said she had opened a criminal case with the South African Police Service and obtained an interim protection order against Thami.
The allegations have not been established as fact by a court.
How Thami secured an order restricting Blue from speaking about him
While Blue pursued legal protection, Thami approached the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg for urgent relief over the allegations being circulated publicly.
On 3 October, the court issued an order directing Blue to remove specified social media posts and restricting her from publishing certain allegations against Thami as established facts.
The allegations covered by the order include claims that he threatened Blue, hired people to intimidate her and threatened her child’s life.
The order also applies to Media24, which owns Daily Sun, and the newspaper’s editor, Amos Mananyetso, in relation to publishing or republishing the disputed allegations as established facts.
However, the order should not be interpreted as a blanket ban preventing Blue from ever speaking about Thami. It addresses specific allegations and how they may be published, while the matter remains subject to further court proceedings.
The High Court set 9 November as the return date for the respondents to show cause why the relief sought should not be made final. The order does not mean the court has ruled that Blue’s allegations are false.
Thami denies the allegations
Thami responded through the Thami Ndlala Foundation, which said he “categorically denies” the allegations and intends to address them through the appropriate legal processes.
The foundation also questioned the supporting material referred to in Blue’s protection-order application, saying the documentation before Thami did not contain the material she referenced.
It further cautioned against treating the opening of a criminal case as proof that the allegations are true.
What happens next?
Monday’s appearance concerns Blue’s protection-order proceedings at the Randburg Magistrate’s Court. The High Court matter initiated by Thami is a separate legal process, with a return date set for 9 November.
The outcome of Monday’s proceedings will determine the next steps in the protection-order matter. Until the relevant court processes have been concluded, Blue’s allegations and Thami’s denials must be treated as competing accounts rather than established findings of fact.
