Online Reporter
Podcast and Chill with MacG hosts MacGyver “MacG” Mukwevho, Solomzi Thandubuntu “Sol” Phenduka and Khanyile “Ghost Lady” Khozane are facing a legal bill of hundreds of thousands of rands following a Johannesburg High Court ruling over allegations made on the podcast.
The controversy stems from an episode of Podcast and Chill with MacG published around 1 June 2026, in which the hosts discussed allegations that a prominent celebrity had raped a woman at a function organised by Homecoming Events in Sun City.
The discussion also suggested that company representatives were aware of the alleged incident and were actively working to keep it quiet.
Event company Homecoming Events and its directors, Lerato Sangweni and Athabile Ngxamngxa, challenged the allegations in court. Sangweni argued in her court papers that the claims were entirely without foundation and had caused serious reputational harm to both the company and its leadership.
She contended that listeners were left with the impression that the directors knew about an alleged rape and deliberately suppressed it to protect their business interests.
Critically, the three hosts did not file any opposing papers in the application. The High Court found the allegations to be false, defamatory and unlawful.
The ruling ordered the hosts to withdraw the claims, delete all related content from their social media accounts and issue a formal apology across the Podcast and Chill with MacG YouTube channel, X, Instagram and TikTok accounts.
They were also barred from repeating claims linking a “big celebrity” to a rape at a Homecoming Events function, or suggesting that the organisers tried to conceal such an incident. The hosts subsequently complied with the requirement to publicly acknowledge that the allegations were made without verification and were untrue.
The court had already ordered the respondents to cover Homecoming Events’ legal costs on an attorney-and-client scale, and the financial consequences of that order are now coming into sharp focus. Law firm Webber Wentzel, acting for Homecoming Events and its directors, received court approval to pursue payment of R211,073.34 from the podcast trio.
The bill covers legal work carried out during the urgent application, including drafting court documents, client and counsel consultations, document preparation, court attendance and administrative work. The attorneys’ base fees totalled R57,047, with urgency fees, a drawing fee, disbursements and an attendance fee pushing the final figure to R211,073.34 – SA Briefly.
