Edward Zuma avoids contempt of court charge, settles hate speech fine
7 February 2019
Edward Zuma has finally settled up and paid the entire R60 000 damages which Durban's Equality Court ordered him to pay for "hate speech" in May last year.
Zuma faced a charge of contempt of court after he failed to pay a final instalment of R12 500 in spite of the court giving him several opportunities to do so.
However, the matter was removed from the court's roll on Thursday.
A letter from a law firm, which was placed in the court file, confirmed that the money had been paid early in February directly into the bank account of Ohlanga High School in Inanda, which was one of two schools who were to benefit from Zuma's wrongdoing.
A receipt reflecting the deposit was attached.
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) took Zuma to court for remarks he made in July 2017 about ministers Derek Hanekom and Pravin Gordhan.
He accused them of being sell-outs, "vile dogs" and said Gordhan was racist.
The matter never went to trial. Instead, Zuma agreed to a settlement. He was ordered to pay R30 000 each to the two schools and to give a written apology to the SAHRC.
The contempt issue was raised by the SAHRC in December when attorneys representing Zuma asked for more time because they could not contact him.
Earlier this month, the matter went to court again, before Equality Court Magistrate Irfaan Khalil, when attorney Ayanda Mkhwanazi said there was a dispute between his law firm and Zuma over money he had deposited into the firm's bank account.
The firm believed it was for fees owed but Zuma claimed it was to pay the outstanding fine.
Zuma was also ordered to pay all of the SAHRC's legal costs.
