Alfred Nzo mayor wins court battle against his mother
ANC regional chair and Alfred Nzo district municipal mayor Sixolile Mehlomakhulu, who was served with an interim protection order by his 87-year-old mother in September for alleged abuse, has been cleared.
Magistrate Buyiselo Somacala of KwaBhaca magistrate's court ruled that the applicant, Mvulazana Sylvia Mehlomakhulu, had not satisfied the court with her evidence.
Mehlomakhulu said: “All that was said was well planned, a plot to dent and deal with my career and integrity with all elements that are defamatory and unlawful. At the tail end all allegations were found to be untrue. All the perpetrators will bear the consequences.”
In September Mvulazana obtained the protection order at the same court after Mehlomakhulu allegedly ransacked her house and removed furniture.
She also accused the mayor of abusing her emotionally, verbally and psychologically. The court said these accusations meant a pattern of degrading or humiliating conduct towards a complainant.
At the time, the 87-year-old’s daughter, Ntombemsulwa Mehlomakhulu, said their lives had been turned upside down by her younger brother.
They accused the mayor of ransacking their home in Luyengweni and making holes in six water tanks. She said Mehlomakhulu took lounge furniture, beds, dining-room furniture, cutlery and pots.
Mehlomakhulu denied this. The interim order granted in September ordered him not to enter the shared residences at Luyengweni and not to prevent his mother, or any child who resided at Luyengweni, from occupying the shared residences.
But on November 29 the court ruled that it was not satisfied by the applicant. It said the applicant contended that the respondent had insulted her and chased her away from her residence and threatened to demolish it.
She stated in court that the mayor's brother, Mzimhle, had fraudulently registered the land in his name after the interim protection order was granted. However, evidence in court showed the house belonged to Mzimhle.
Somacala said the onus was on the applicant to satisfy the court. Somacala took issue with how the person who had assisted her filled in the form.
“The details in paragraph five (on the form) which relates to information regarding the acts of domestic violence are so scanty that I have no doubt in my mind that if the respondent was not legally represented, he would not have been able to respond in his defence.
“The court is not satisfied that the applicant has discharged the onus which rested on her on a balance of probabilities that the respondent has committed or is committing any of the domestic violence acts complained of,” he said.
He ordered that Mvulazana's application for a protection order be dismissed and the interim protection order granted in September be discharged.
The family is planning to appeal against the ruling.
“We are not going to take this lying down, the family will appeal. This court dealt with the ownership of the property but we needed it to deal with the abuse of our mother,” said a family member, who wanted to remain anonymous.