ConCourt restores bail, SABC Livhu to be released

Livhuwani Madadzhe, the social media influencer and comedian also known as SABC Livhu, will be released from Matatshe Prison on Thursday, 22 January, at 07:30, following a Constitutional Court ruling that reinstated his bail. This was confirmed to Limpopo Mirror by Madadzhe’s legal counsel, Advocate Khuliso Negota, late on Wednesday afternoon.

The apex court granted Madadzhe leave to appeal directly to it and upheld his appeal, setting aside a series of rulings made by Judge Thogomelani Tshidada in November last year, including the decision to cancel his bail.

In its order, the Constitutional Court found that Judge Tshidada should not have continued presiding over aspects of the matter after issuing an earlier case management directive in May 2025.

As a result, the court ruled that subsequent decisions — including the separation of charges, continued involvement in sentencing proceedings and the revocation of bail — could not stand.

The court ordered that Madadzhe’s bail be reinstated with immediate effect, subject to the same conditions that applied before it was cancelled on 14 November 2025, and directed that the order be sent without delay to the correctional centre where he is incarcerated.

The ruling ends weeks of legal uncertainty that had stalled proceedings in the Thohoyandou High Court, sitting at the Waterval Magistrate’s Court, where sentencing on two fraud counts had been postponed pending the Constitutional Court’s decision.

Madadzhe’s bail was revoked after he admitted to two counts of fraud linked to the faking of his mother’s death to claim insurance money. Sentencing on those charges remains suspended.

The Constitutional Court stressed that the State is not prevented from applying afresh for the cancellation of Madadzhe’s bail before another judge.

Madadzhe also faces a separate charge of murder relating to the death of his partner, Lindelani Nengovhela, who was killed three years ago. That matter is continuing independently.

Date:21 January 2026

By: Maanda Bele

Maanda  Bele, born and raised in Nzhelele Siloam, studied journalism at the Tshwane University of Technology. He is passionate about current news and international affairs. He worked as part of the Zoutnet team as an intern in 2017. He is currently a freelance journalist specialising in news from the Vhembe district.

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