1. The plaintiff, a military trade union, instituted action for defamation against the defendants for two claims of R250 000.00 each arising from the publication of two documents which were authored by the fifth defendant, and authorised by the fourth defendant. The first document, published in October 2007, featured in a military publication called The Bulletin’. The article was entitled “GREATEST LIES EVER TOLD BY A MILITARY TRADE UNION: COUNTERFEIT 19% SALARY INCREASE, 10% ANNUAL INCREMENT AND 5% PAY PROGRESSION SYSTEM”