BY KWANELE DLAMINI AND MACHAWE FAKUDZE
MBABANE – A Nsingizini Hotspurs Board member and marketing manager has applied to the High Court for an urgent injunction preventing a supporter from repeating alleged defamatory statements
Nozipho Shabangu, a businesswoman from Lavumisa, has filed an urgent application against Valencia Vermeulen in High Court. Among her prayers, she is demanding E200 000 from Vermeulen for damages resulting from the alleged defamatory statements and injury to her dignity and reputation.
Shabangu says the dispute involves repeated interactions and publications concerning her. She said the conduct occurred both in person and through social-media platforms and communications with third parties.
According to Shabangu, who is former Miss Eswatini, an earlier incident occurred during a football tournament at Mavuso Sports Centre.
She submitted that her cousin, Nothando Dlamini, was seated near Vermeulen while she was walking across the stadium. Shabangu stated that Dlamini later informed her that Vermeulen pointed towards her and made remarks in a stadium filled with Nsingizini Hotspurs supporters.
Dlamini reportedly said she understood the statement to be directed at Shabangu because of the pointing and noted that other members of the public and football supporters were present.
Another incident, according to Shabangu, concerns a social-media publication following the launch of an Nsingizini Hotspurs jersey sold for E850. Shabangu alleged that Vermeulen made a public social-media comment referring to her following the launch.
“The post circulated among people using the platform and attracted reactions and comments from subscribers and football supporters, associating me personally with decisions concerning the club’s jersey and related matters,” she claimed.
The veracity of these allegations is still to be tested in court. Vermeulen is yet to file her answering papers. The applicant is represented by Khumbulani Msibi of Magagula Attorneys.
Shabangu further described an encounter at the stadium on September 12, 2026, when she said she confronted Vermeulen about the Facebook publication regarding the comments and why club decisions concerning ticket prices and replica merchandise were being attributed to her.
Shabangu also denied assaulting Vermeulen during the encounter. She informed the court that later that evening, Vermeulen allegedly sent her a message suggesting that they put their differences aside and stating that she was doing a good job.
The following morning, according to Shabangu, she received information that Vermeulen had contacted Mufasa, an online Facebook publication platform, about the confrontation. She stated that she was informed that communications had been made regarding the confrontation, her qualifications, her work performance and her role in the team.
She denied assaulting Vermeulen and issues surrounding her qualifications or her work with Nsingizini Hotspurs.
She submitted that the statements were subsequently circulated further on Facebook, prompting her to make a public statement on her own social-media page and inform the club president.
According to her affidavit, the president contacted the National Supporters Committee and asked that Vermeulen be approached and instructed to stop making the statements publicly.
Shabangu stated that she is a businesswoman, mother and Board member, and marketing manager of the club. She also said decisions involving ticket prices, replica jerseys, merchandise and other club matters are decisions of the club and its leadership structures, rather than personal decisions made by her.
Her court application seeks an order preventing Vermeulen from publishing or repeating the specified statements, including through Facebook and other social-media platforms. It also seeks removal of the publications and payment of E200 000.
She said the application is urgent because social-media material can remain accessible, be shared, reproduced and republished. The notice further prays for such further or alternative relief as the court may consider appropriate.
Shabangu argued that previous attempts to resolve the dispute without litigation had not stopped the alleged conduct and asked the court to grant the relief contained in her notice of motion. Judge Mumcy Dlamini postponed the matter to September 28, 2026.
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