Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has won his defamation case against businessman Mthunzi Mdwaba, who last year accused him of being involved in a plan to solicit a R500-million bribe to close a business deal. 

Mdwaba first made the bribery accusation in a Newzroom Afrika interview in November, saying that "intermediaries" had tried to strong-arm him into paying the multimillion-rand fee to close a deal with the Unemployment Insurance Fund.

The former chair of Productivity SA said he was told that the unnamed intermediaries were acting on behalf of government ministers. While Mdwaba did not use Godongwana’s name, he did refer to him as the minister in charge of Treasury. 

Mdwaba went on to repeat similar accusations in subsequent interviews.

'[It’s] A bribe. They say, they call it gateway fees,' he said in a later interview with on Talk Radio 702. 

The finance minister denied the accusation, saying he had never solicited a bribe and never sent an intermediary to find out whether Mdwaba would be amenable to paying one. 

On 8 November, his lawyers sent Mdwaba a letter of demand to retract his statement and apologise. When nothing was forthcoming, he instituted an urgent application in the high court.

The High Court in Johannesburg has now ruled that Mdwaba used "defamatory and false" statements when referring to Godongwana. 

"It is declared that the respondent's publication of the statement is unlawful and that he is liable to pay damages to the applicant," said Judge Dario Dosia. 

"The respondent is interdicted from doing any interview that says or implies that the applicant tried to solicit a bribe in the amount of R500-million."

Dosia said Mdwaba had not produced any proof of being pressured to pay the bribes. 

"It is unfortunate that the respondent does not trust the police or that he is unwilling to provide the media with the names of the intermediaries," he said. 

"He should have verified the truth thereof and laid a formal charge. The respondent cannot expect the public to believe him and continue spreading these allegations without supporting proof."

Mdwaba told News24 on Friday that he needed to talk to his legal team before responding to the ruling. 

In a post on social media platform X, he referred to the ruling as "bizarre" and "shocking news".

Dosia has not yet awarded any damages or ordered Mbwaba to retract and apologise, saying these matters still needed to be hashed out at later hearings. 

Mdwaba, meanwhile, is expected back in court next Friday for a separate case brought against him and his company, Thuja Holdings, by the Minister of Employment and Labour, Thulas Nxesi.

Nxesi wants to block the UIF contract with Thuja. He is also seeking to stop Mdwaba from making what he called "false allegations" of bribery against him.