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Trevor Manuel, former Minister of Finance.
- Trevor Manuel welcomed the SCA ruling by confirming the court’s finding that EFF’s statements about him were “false, defamatory and illegal.”
- The SCA, however, did not support the award of R500k in damages to Manuel, saying it was “extraordinarily high.”
- Manuel expects the statements to be withdrawn in 24 hours.
Former Finance Minister Trevor Manuel welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court of Appeals (SCA), which upheld a higher court’s decision that the EFF’s statements about him were “false, defamatory and illegal.”
The EFF failed in its efforts to appeal a court ruling that said he and his leadership defamed Manuel with false claims that he oversaw a “corrupt” process to appoint new South African Tax Service (SARS) commissioner Edward Kieswetter, reported News24.
“The accusations he made were clearly defamatory and concerned a public figure who had the responsibility of interviewing people and advising the president on the appointment of the SARS commissioner. That is a very serious accusation.
“Doing so on the basis of such a message without any effort to confirm the veracity of the accusations is incompatible with the absence of an intention to hurt. It shows a willingness to hurt, regardless of the veracity of the accusations.” said the SCA.
Manuel sued the EFF, its leader Julius Malema and former national spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi after they issued a statement alleging that Manuel was corrupt, nepotist, had behaved illegally, had conducted “secret interviews” and had participated in a secret process to select the new SARS commissioner.
READ | Manuel to EFF: retract ‘false’ statement about me and Kieswetter – or else
The matter was heard at the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg last year, which found the comments made by the EFF about Manuel to be “defamatory and false”.
Subsequently, the party filed an appeal in June last year.
The SCA ruled on Thursday that the political party must withdraw the statement from all its media platforms within 24 hours and apologize to Manuel.
“Extraordinarily High” Damages – SCA
The SCA, however, chose not to support the award of the “extraordinarily high” R500,000 in damages to Manuel, and referred the determination of the possible sanctions that the EFF should face, including the obligation to apologize to Manuel, to another court. , News24. reported.
“I welcome today’s decision of the Supreme Court of Appeals, which upheld the higher court’s conclusion that the EFF’s statements about me are false.
“The SCA also argued that the issue of damages and the apology should be referred to the higher court for determination. I will discuss the way forward in these aspects of the sentence with my lawyers,” Manuel said in a statement on Thursday. .
Manuel added that reporting the SCA ruling as a “victory” for the EFF is a “clear mischaracterization of the ruling.”
“Accordingly, I expect the EFF to remove the statement from its media platforms by tomorrow morning,” he concluded.
News24 reached out to EFF spokesperson Vuyani Pambo for comment. It will be added once it is received.
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