Nelson Mandela Bay executive mayor Babalwa Lobishe faces a defamation lawsuit from Mkhuseli ‘Khusta’ Jack, leader of the Abantu Integrity Movement (AIM) and a councillor in the metro, over remarks she allegedly made at a council meeting in late August 2026 suggesting he may have been involved in the disappearance of anti-apartheid activists in the 1970s and collaborated with the apartheid regime. Jack’s lawyer, Neville Gawula of N Gawula Inc, served Lobishe with a letter of demand on 2 September 2026, giving her until the following Wednesday to retract the remarks and issue a public apology or face legal proceedings including a claim for damages and legal costs.

Legal Demand And Party Response

According to the Mail & Guardian, Jack is relying on a video recording of the council meeting that was broadcast on the municipality’s communication platforms and subsequently circulated widely on social media. Lobishe did not respond to questions from the Mail & Guardian asking whether she had evidence to substantiate the claims she allegedly made about Jack.

AIM secretary-general Maxhoba Buwa, speaking to the Mail & Guardian, condemned the remarks as defamatory and questioned Lobishe’s knowledge of Jack’s struggle history.

Lobishe was in her nappies when Khusta Jack was facing the guns of the apartheid regime in the townships, championing the voice of the oppressed. She has no personal knowledge of his political activism in the 1970s.

Since she is evidently ignorant of our country’s most recent history, all she should have done would be to ask her own senior comrades. She would have learnt that Khusta Jack’s reputation nationally as a committed community activist is unimpeachable.

Buwa added that the remarks were underpinned by malicious intent and described them as a calculated attempt to harm Jack’s public standing. Gawula confirmed that should Lobishe fail to retract and apologise, legal proceedings would follow.

Political Rift And Historical Background

The dispute is the latest escalation in a months-long conflict between the two politicians. Jack resigned from Lobishe’s mayoral committee in late May 2026, writing in his resignation letter that he had become disillusioned with deteriorating governance under her leadership. The rift deepened after Jack declined to support Lobishe during a motion of no confidence tied to the controversial R25 million transformer leased to Coega Steels — a transaction Lobishe herself conceded in parliament was irregular, according to Jack.

In March 2026, Jack told Lobishe directly during a council meeting that he had no confidence in her. Two motions of no confidence brought by Freedom Front Plus and ACDP councillors failed after a majority voted against debating them. By July 2026, AIM had formally petitioned Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa to intervene, seeking the council’s replacement by an administrator under sections 139(1)(c) and 139(5) of the Constitution.

Jack’s struggle credentials are extensively documented. Born on 31 May 1958, he was active in the South African Students Movement and the Black Consciousness Movement in the 1970s, co-founded the Port Elizabeth Youth Congress under the United Democratic Front in the early 1980s, and led the Consumer Boycott Campaign. He was jailed in 1986 for his role in that campaign and released in 1989. He later established Save SA, a campaign aimed at removing then-president Jacob Zuma from office.

Whether any MK veteran structures have formally defended Jack could not be independently confirmed from the sources reviewed. Whether Lobishe has retracted the remarks or issued a public apology by the stated deadline also remains unconfirmed in available reporting.