Do we still have laws that govern libel? Are they considered effective? South Africans in the public eye are often the subject of statements based on partial truths or total untruths, many of which could be deemed libellous. This consumes time which ought to be spent on governance. The only way to put an end to this practice is for the party that is libelled to react in an appropriate legal manner and request the court to decree that if the defendants lose their cases, they pay both sets of legal costs from their private resources. The recent attack by Ben Ngubane on Pravin Gordhan and Thuli Madonsela during an interview he granted to Gupta-owned television news channel ANN7 is a case in point. He claimed that her State of Capture report was a hatchet job "funded" by Gordhan. If untrue, this is surely seriously libellous. Max LeipoldHermanus
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