https://www.polity.org.za
Deepening Democracy through Access to Information
Home / Audio / Audio Articles RSS ← Back
Tourism
Tourism
tourism
Close

Email this article

separate emails by commas, maximum limit of 4 addresses

Sponsored by

Close

Article Enquiry

Hanekom welcomes defamation ruling, but Zuma yet to remove 'enemy agent' tweet

Close

Embed Video

Hanekom welcomes defamation ruling, but Zuma yet to remove 'enemy agent' tweet

Former President Jacob Zuma
Photo by Reuters
Former President Jacob Zuma

8th November 2019

By: News24Wire

SAVE THIS ARTICLE      EMAIL THIS ARTICLE

Font size: -+

Former tourism minister and African National Congress (ANC) stalwart Derek Hanekom has welcomed the ruling of Judge Dhaya Pillay against former president Jacob Zuma's leave to appeal her ruling that his statement - that Hanekom was a "known enemy agent" - was defamatory. 

Zuma's bid for leave to appeal the court judgment was dismissed on Thursday, News24 reported. 

"In the opinion of this court an appeal of judgment would have no reasonable prospects of success before another court," Judge Pillay said in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg.

Advertisement

The application was dismissed with costs.

Judge Pillay said that, at its core, the case was about determining the interpretation of Zuma's tweet.

Advertisement

Zuma's tweet came after it was revealed that Hanekom had met with the Economic Freedom Fighters leadership to discuss a motion of no confidence in Zuma.

"All other grounds of appeal are peripheral to this central question. Mr Zuma accepts that the tweet is open to several interpretations. If it was unambiguous, the parties would not have sought the court's opinion."

On September 6, Judge Pillay found that the tweet was "false and defamatory" and ordered that it be removed within 24 hours.

"The respondent is ordered to remove the tweet within 24 hours from all media platforms including by deleting it in from his Twitter account," Pillay ordered.

Zuma was also ordered to publish on his Twitter account, within 24 hours, the following apology: "On 25 July 2019, I published a tweet which alleges that Derek Hanekom is a known enemy agent. I unconditionally withdraw this allegation and apologise for making it as if it is false."

Tweet not removed

By Friday morning, however, the tweet had still not been removed nor an apology issued. 

Hanekom said that, in the course of the main application, and again in the argument for leave to appeal, Zuma conceded that he did not "regard me as an apartheid spy" nor question Hanekom's "struggle credentials". 

"I sincerely hope that this matter - which has caused so much unnecessary division and pain - can finally be laid to rest," Hanekom said. 

It was not clear when - and whether - Zuma would remove the tweet. 

Hanekom also claimed R500 000 in damages, but an oral hearing has yet to take place to determine the amount of damages.

Zuma's spokesperson Vukile Mathabela could not be reached for comment on Friday morning.

EMAIL THIS ARTICLE      SAVE THIS ARTICLE

To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here

Comment Guidelines

About

Polity.org.za is a product of Creamer Media.
www.creamermedia.co.za

Other Creamer Media Products include:
Engineering News
Mining Weekly
Research Channel Africa

Read more

Subscriptions

We offer a variety of subscriptions to our Magazine, Website, PDF Reports and our photo library.

Subscriptions are available via the Creamer Media Store.

View store

Advertise

Advertising on Polity.org.za is an effective way to build and consolidate a company's profile among clients and prospective clients. Email advertising@creamermedia.co.za

View options
Free daily email newsletter Register Now