Sultry television actress Buhle Samuels is girding her loins for a legal showdown with her ex-boyfriend, businessman Vuyisa Mqokiyana, who has filed a R5 million defamation lawsuit against her in the Joburg High Court.
Africa Daily can exclusively reveal that the former Muvhango thespian has filed papers in the High Court entering an intention to defend the lawsuit he filed against her.
“Kindly take notice that the defendant hereby enters an appearance to defend this action and appoints the offices of Blake Attorneys at the undermentioned address at which it will accept service of all process and pleadings in this action,” read the notice dated 15 September.
The actress’s notice to go into a duel with Mqokiyana comes after the businessman stated that he opposed mediation in the matter.
He told the court that he does not foresee reasonable prospects of a successful settlement between him and the actress.
“Be pleased to take notice that the plaintiff opposes the referral of this matter to mediation in terms of Rule 41A of the Uniform Rule of Court, on the grounds that the claim of the plaintiff is for damages suffered due to the defamatory statements made by the defendant.
The defendant failed to acknowledge the letter of demand, and to indicate any intention to resolve the matter. Accordingly, the plaintiff does not foresee the reasonable prospects of a successful mediation between the parties,” read the papers dated 14 August.
Mqokiyana is suing Samuels over allegations she made against him in a protection order she obtained at the Randburg Magistrate’s Court following a violent altercation between the former couple.
In the lawsuit, which Africa Daily has seen, Mqokiyana said that Samuels defamed him when she claimed that he was physically, emotionally and economically abusive towards her.
He said Samuels failed to inform the court that on 28 February 2025, she arrived at midnight at the West Hotel and Apartments, Morningside, Sandton, Johannesburg, which they shared at that time, under the influence of alcohol.
He said she then assaulted him on his face with her Louis Vuitton bag, which he bought for her.
Mqokiyana further said he grabbed the bag in self-defence, but Samuels repeatedly and forcefully pulled it from him, which ended up being damaged.
However, he said, she did not stop there.
She also verbally insulted him afterwards, he said.
The KwaZulu-Natal businessman said that in the protection order, which Samuels obtained on 24 April 2025, the actress claimed that she reported him to police for abuse.
He said Samuels stated in the protection order that despite reporting him to law enforcement agencies, he was not arrested because he had personal connections with police officials at the station where the case was opened.
He said she further claimed that Mqokiyana retaliated by laying a charge of fraud against her at the same police station.
He explained that the actress further said she no longer felt safe at her own home as she suspected that individuals may have been monitoring her residence.
Mqokiyana also said the pretty belle further claimed that she felt unprotected and vulnerable as the police, potentially influenced by his connections, had failed to act impartially. He said she also claimed that instead of assisting her in pursuing legal protection through the courts, the police pressured her to resolve the matter through mediation.
Samuels also said that in one of their violent tiffs, Mqokiyana strangled her. When she defended herself, he took her Louis Vuitton handbag and, when she “fought him off”, he “bit my hand and we rolled on the ground”.
She claimed that, in her defence, she held Mqokiyana in a chokehold to neutralise him, as he continued to wrestle with her and pulled her bag, resulting in the handle and chain being damaged.
Mqokiyana said Samuels was pulling the wool over the public ‘s eye, as all these things did not happen, hence her application for a permanent protection order was dismissed.
He maintains that the allegations damaged his reputation and were made with the intention to harm him.
Mqokiyana further accuses Samuels of circulating her protection-order application among friends and on social media, which he claims resulted in further damage to his reputation.
The court papers refer to social media posts which repeated allegations contained in Samuels’ protection-order application and identified Mqokiyana as her former lover.
Mqokiyana argues that Samuels knew the allegations she made under oath were false and that she intended to publicise them to damage his standing as a businessman.
He accuses her of unlawfully and wrongfully violating his dignity and says the publication of the protection-order papers caused him significant reputational harm. Samuels couldn’t be reached for comment at the time of publication.