Constitutional Court rules in favour of AfriForum lawyer, against HETN

A legal battle of more than two years between the Higher Education Transformation Network (HETN) and the legal representative of AfriForum, Willie Spies has reached a highlight in the Constitutional Court when ten judges unanimously dismissed an application for leave to appeal by the HETN and their Chairman, Mr Lucky Thekiso against an earlier interdict granted against them.

The Constitutional Court ruled that the application by the HETN and Mr Thekiso had no prospect of success.

The legal process between Spies and the HETN started in October 2012 when the organisation, through their chairman, released a series of defamatory media statements in which Spies was labelled a racist and instigator of violence. Spies obtained an interim interdict against Mr Thekiso and his supporters in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria in February 2013. The defamation campaign was launched against Spies after he defeated Mr Thekiso in an election for board members of the University of Pretoria (UP).

During the proceedings in the High Court, Mr Thekiso and the HETN caused a stir when they requested Gauteng Judge-President, Dunstan Mlambo in a letter, to remove the presiding judge, Cynthia Pretorius from the bench, because she was white and studied at the UP. Later, they also formally filed an application that she recuse herself from the trial, as they believed she would be biased. She however dismissed their application for her recusal and granted an interdict, prohibiting the publication of defamatory allegations against Spies.

Mr Thekiso and the HETN also launched proceedings against the University and Tuks Alumni in the Equality Court in which they argue that Mr Thekiso was not elected to the UP Board because of alleged systematic discrimination against black people at the UP. In the election which took place in September 2012, Spies drew 1075 of the votes, while Mr Thekiso received only 95 votes. The matter in the Equality Court is still pending.

Spies responded to the Constitutional Court ruling by saying that he's delighted about the outcome.

Statement issued by Esmarie Prinsloo, Head: Media Relations, AfriForum, November 6 2014

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