Cici asks court to gag Arthur Mafokate's friend

Former 999 music artist and songstress Cici has hauled one of Arthur Mafokate's friends to court for claiming that she somersaulted on her initial claims that her ex-boyfriend and boss assaulted her.

The singer filed papers at the South Gauteng High Court in Joburg on Thursday asking the court to interdict John Mphatsoe from posting or commenting about her court case on social media, failing which she will sue for defamation.

She said Mphatsoe was harassing her and emotionally torturing her with unprovoked social media posts meant to intimidate her.

This follows their heated Twitter exchange after court proceedings on Friday last week, where Cici, real name Busisiwe Thwala, was cross-examined by Mafokate's lawyer Leana Fick.

During the cross-examination, Cici conceded that she did not say Mafokate assaulted her but that he drove away while she held onto the car's door handle which led to her injuries.

In the Twar, Cici labelled Mphatsoe an a***-licker.

Her affidavit further asks the court to bar Mphatsoe from contacting her directly but to do so through her lawyer. She said she felt intimidated by Mphatsoe's constant attendance of her court proceedings at the Midrand Magistrate's Court despite not being attached to any media house.

"I therefore believe that the respondent is engaging in this publishing of information in order to intimidate me and to damage my public image," reads her affidavit.

She further said that Mphatsoe's statements affect her ability to generate income as she relies on her public image to stay relevant.

The Runaway singer also suspects that Mphatsoe was provoking her to grow his social media standing

According to the papers, Cici has more than 100000 followers while Mphatsoe only has 700.

Cici said her lawyers forwarded Mphatsoe a letter requesting a public apology for his conduct, but Mphatsoe rejected the request.

She said, instead, Mphatsoe refused to apologise or remove his posts as he had "done nothing wrong".

Mphatsoe confirmed receiving a summons to appear in court but said he was ready to defend himself.

"I'm not going to retract the truth. She said in court that Mr Mafokate did not assault her," said Mphatsoe.

Mphatsoe confirmed he was close to Mafokate but said the King of Kwaito was not aware of his Twitter posts about the court proceedings .

"She saw us at court, so she can't claim that she didn't see me with Arthur. Yes, we are very close," Mphatsoe said.

He said his statement posted on Twitter could not be considered defamatory as he was merely stating what was said in court. "The magistrate never said we must not speak about the case in public," he said .

Cici's lawyer Keagan Elliot said: "... our client's application is simply to protect her rights and to halt any infringements thereof."