High Court dismisses R4 million defamation claim
A would-be R4 million defamation of character claim has failed in the High Court of South Africa, at the Mpumalanga Division (Mbombela Main Seat), after a municipality employee could not prove defamatory statements were publicised.
Sinenhlanhla Manqele, employed as a technical director at the Thaba Chweu Local Municipality, sought that an attorney and the firm that were mandated to compile a report to investigate the causes of sewer spillage contained 'false and defamatory statements'.
Manqele sought that the firm and the attorney each pay him R2 million and interest on the amounts, based on the claim that the contents of the report were intended to tarnish his reputation.
Jimmy Baloyi, a lawyer at Baloyi Masango Inc. Attorneys, compiled the report after the local municipality mandated him to investigate a criminal guilty finding of the municipality for the sewage spill.
Regarding the sewage spillage, the guilty finding necessitated the municipal manager to sign an admission of guilt, having been found guilty of transgression of the National Environmental Management: Waste Act (NEMWA Act).
Baloyi was mandated to investigate whether the municipality could have avoided the transgression; whether there was any sort of negligence by any of the municipal employees; whether there was proper accountability to workflow of the relevant departments that are necessarily in charge of compliance and to reflect on the criminal case brought against the municipality, and demonstrate the complexities and seriousness of the problem surrounding unlawful municipal sewage discharge.
Manqele was one of several employees interviewed during the investigation, and when it was concluded, the report was tabled at the municipality council sitting during August 2022. At the time, the privileged document was presented to 28 councillors.
An extract from Baloyi's report read: 'There is an emergency in the technical department that has not been recognised as such by the technical services director and technical services management team. There is a lack of knowledge and skills among the people who ought to be managing the department.
'Whether this is a result of a lack of basic approach to employment or not, there is a lack of will when it comes to applying oneself in the position that one is employed in, from the technical director down to the plumber in the command chain. We were unable to interview the technical director, as he had taken a stand against this by involving an attorney, who indicated that we cannot have a conversation with the technical director without the attorney involved.
'This, on its own, indicated that the technical director knows exactly what is happening in the department. The technical director, in this regard, has no skills to occupy the position he is occupying, which is the reason why he does not comprehend the severity of the impact of the pollution of the sewer spillages around and within the municipal boundaries.
'The technical director does not even comprehend the emergency and urgency that this issue had to be addressed in.'
In his delictual claim, Manqele rebutted that 'the report intentionally and maliciously makes false, wrongful, unlawful and defamatory statements against him'.
He added that the readers of the report understood the above to mean that he is 'incompetent, unethical and unprofessional; that he is unqualified and occupies the position of a technical director through a dubious appointment; that he lacks skills and knowledge in the portfolio of technical director; and that he is corrupt, insolent and engages in unlawful activities in the municipality.'
Judge Lindiwe Vukeya said: 'This report was not only about his personal or professional persona, it also involved other employees of his department… From the outset, it is clear that the plaintiff was afforded an opportunity to present his account of events concerning his department, but elected not to do so. The plaintiff had the opportunity to provide an explanation regarding the origin of the problem, its causes, and the circumstances surrounding the expenditure of R9 million, which he declined to offer.
'Furthermore, in his evidence, the plaintiff could not provide any tangible evidence regarding how this privileged report was leaked to other employees. His evidence was that it was shown to him, at his request, by the security manager, who has since passed away. On his own evidence, he is the only person outside of the council meeting who saw the report.'
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