The high court has dismissed with costs an attempt by friends of deputy president Paul Mashatile to “gag” News24’s associating them with the so-called “Alex mafia” as “an abuse of court process”, which had “manifestly ... intimidatory” components, to punish and deter.

Businessmen and longtime friends of Mashatile, Bridgman Sithole and Michael Maile, were listed by journalist Adriaan Basson in a 2007 article as being part of a “mafia” group in Alexandra township. At the time, Mashatile was the Gauteng finance MEC to whom this “Alex mafia” allegedly answered...

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