MEC loses defamation case against Holomisa over corruption tweet

Transport MEC Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe has lost her defamation lawsuit against UDM leader Bantu Holomisa, with the court ruling that what he had said about her was substantially true and fair.

The MEC took Holomisa to court over his April tweet, which was headed “#ComradesInCorruption are at it again”.

It stated Tikana-Gxothiwe owned the Mioca Lodge guest house in Cala, which was being used as a governmentpaid quarantine site for patients suspected to have Covid-19.

It concluded that she should be fired (“Makagxothwe!”)

In a scathing judgment, Judge Gerald Bloem found the facts of the case did indeed suggest, as stated by Holomisa, that Tikana-Gxothiwe had an interest in the Cala guest house being used as an official Covid19 quarantine site.

Even more damning was Bloem’s conclusion that

Holomisa’s statement that “comrades in corruption are at it again” was fair comment, given the rampant corruption at every level of government.

The judge said corruption had crippled state-owned entities, and many municipalities.

Politicians and state officials were implicated and some had been convicted for such crimes, he said.

“I am of the view that the facts about corruption are so notorious that the reasonable reader of the tweet will take them into account and understand the tweet in that context.”

He said that Holomisa’s comment was based on the fact that the provincial executive took a decision that benefited a member of the ruling party.

“Such a reader would not be surprised by a comment that comrades are busy with corruption again.”

He said both Holomisa and the MEC were politicians and the courts traditionally allowed considerable latitude for comment.

As a politician, the MEC should expect robust comments about her conduct.

“In the circumstances, since it is found that [Holomisa’s] comment that ‘comrades were again busy with corruption’, was fair, it cannot be said that the tweet injured the good esteem in which the [MEC] is held by the reasonable reader of the tweet.”

Tikana-Gxothiwe denied in court papers that she owned the guest house.

She asked the Grahamstown high court to declare as defamatory and false his statement on social media and order that Holomisa retract it and issue an unconditional apology.

She also wanted R250,000 in damages.

But Bloem said the evidence suggested she did in fact own, or at least have an interest in, the Mioca Lodge despite her daughter Kwakhanya Tikana being the sole director of Mioca (Pty) Ltd.

Holomisa produced documentation showing mother and daughter shared a postal and a residential address in the Cala reserve.

The MEC had also chosen not to respond to Holomisa’s question on how an unemployed 21-year-old would be able to afford to start up a company on her own.

Bloem concluded that the MEC had provided the capital for the start-up and was, in all probability, the owner of it or had an interest in it.

This meant that what Holomisa had said was, “if not true then substantially true”.

He dismissed the application and ordered the MEC to pay the legal costs.

Holomisa was happy with the judgment, saying: “She failed dismally to gag me.”

He said he would continue to interrogate what he termed the many nauseating reports and other allegations circulating about the MEC.

The MEC’s legal representative, advocate Hendry Pietersen, said they were still studying the judgment and a decision on the way forward would be taken in due course.