[1] He and current Economic Freedom Fighters president Julius Malema grew up in the same community and both became involved in the same organisations.
In 2013, he was involved in a court battle with Malema after he sent him a message threatening to exhume his mother's remains and take them to his grandmother's house.
[2] In the same year, Mamabolo was arrested on fraud charges relating to his tenure as the chairperson of the Limpopo Geographical Names Committee.
[5][6] Consequently, Malema and his spouse approached the Limpopo High Court and filed lawsuits of R1 million each, citing defamation.
[12] Mamabolo was reported in 2022 to have made a veiled death threat to an editor via WhatsApp message as part of demanding a let up in coverage of a presidential aide.