A man who was again in court on a charge of contempt of court – previously having turned up screaming and weeping – this week narrowly avoided jail time.
Musa Mbundwini posted several clips on Facebook and TikTok accusing the state-owned company of using fraudulent documents following his 2018 dismissal from Transnet Engineering and being unsuccessful in both his appeals.
This led to several hearings, one of which culminated in a takedown order or 30 days in jail, suspended for five years. Another, last Thursday, resulted in a hearing being suspended because of Mbundwini’s behaviour, and this Tuesday’s hearing saw his prison sentence being suspended again on condition he take down the posts.
The judge also gave his attorneys and the sheriff of the court the power to force TikTok and Facebook to close his accounts.
Judge Robin Mossop, of the KwaZulu-Natal High Court, said in the most recent ruling, on Tuesday this week, that “prison is not an attractive place to find oneself. It is a place to be avoided, if at all humanly possible, and I am naturally loath to dispatch a citizen to such a place if the issue can yet be resolved in a manner that reasserts the dignity of the court and abates the complaint.”
The ruling also says should Mbundwini go to jail, the posts would remain live. This would result in Transnet Engineering being “no better off, as members of the wider community would still be able to access those videos and potentially form unjustified views of the applicant [Transnet Engineering]”.
The judge also took into consideration that Mbundwini represented himself and “may well not have fully comprehended how his conduct might lead him to the parlous position that he found himself in”.
Takedown imposed
Mbundwini was ordered to delete all content related to Transnet, including several videos, as well as any defamatory content against Transnet Engineering from his social media profiles on Tuesday.
He is also barred from posting anything about Transnet on any social media platform, in any format. When ITWeb searched for the posts that he was ordered to take down, these appear to have been removed.
However, a transcript of a cached version of a video in which Mbundwini challenges the South African judicial system’s handling of family law, arguing that courts operate under a “presumption of guilt” against men in maintenance and domestic violence cases, was available.
Objectional clips
Following last Thursday’s postponement, Mbundwini told the court on Tuesday that he had complied and taken down the posts. Judge Mossop instructed him to sit with Transnet Engineering’s representatives and demonstrate compliance – an exercise that took about an hour. Further objectionable videos were found on both platforms.
By the time the exercise was complete, most had been deleted, with four Facebook videos and content on an inaccessible TikTok profile remaining.
The inaccessible TikTok profile was linked to a cellphone number that no longer existed, making account recovery through normal channels impossible, which resulted in the order authorising Transnet Engineering’s attorneys or the sheriff to approach TikTok directly.
Judge Mossop observed in his judgement that Mbundwini appeared to have devoted the eight years since his dismissal to attempting to defame Transnet Engineering, its employees and its processes, and that his stated goal of returning to employment with the company had been made impossible by his own conduct.
The judge said he did not regard the outcome as a victory for Mbundwini. “He has placed himself in a position where he will have little or no wriggle room if he again begins posting videos intended to defame the applicant.”
Judge Mossop remarked during last week Thursday’s hearing that Mbundwini’s conduct was “quite unlike anything that I have ever witnessed in 40 years of appearing in, and presiding over, courts of law”.
The judge said Mbundwini conducted his own defence by “shouting, screaming, weeping and panting while uttering scandalous comments about the proceedings, applicant’s legal representatives and the court”.
Mbundwini demanded the judge order the arrest of opposing counsel, whom he described as criminals guilty of fraud. Four security personnel had to be called from elsewhere in the High Court precinct to assist.
The judge stood the matter down for an hour-and-a-half. When he returned, Mbundwini initially appeared calmer, then continued with his outrage. During one outburst, he conceded he had not removed the videos.
As Mossop left court that afternoon, Mbundwini shouted after him that he was immediately going to post something on TikTok. He did – three videos over the weekend of 14 and 15 February.
The back story
Mbundwini’s social media posts followed his dismissal from Transnet in 2018 for dishonesty and fraud, and subsequently losing two appeals to the bargaining council.
Rather than challenge the findings that his dismissal was fair, Mbundwini turned to TikTok and Facebook, posting a series of videos accusing Transnet Engineering of fraud, dishonesty and using “fraudulent documents” in dismissing him. He alleged the company colluded with the Transnet Bargaining Council and described its employees as “dirty people”.
Transnet Engineering became aware of the videos in March 2024 and sought relief from the court.
An escalating series of takedown orders followed – in August 2024, April 2025, June 2025 and August 2025 – none of which Mbundwini complied with. The August 2025 order imposed the 30-day suspended sentence that was at issue on Tuesday and again on Thursday.
Between the August 2025 order and a supplementary affidavit filed on 9 February 2026, Mbundwini had posted at least 62 further videos – 25 between August and October 2025, and a further 37 between December 2025 and February 2026.
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