AfriForum succeeds in making Lesufi’s apology to AfriForum an order of the court
16 March 2023
AfriForum has succeeded in obtaining a court order in the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Johannesburg that the settlement in which Panyaza Lesufi, the Gauteng Premier, expressed his regret for his false allegation against AfriForum and in which he retracted his claims that AfriForum attempted to assassinate him and stalked his children, be made an order of this court. Lesufi did not oppose AfriForum’s application.
An extract from the media release issued pursuant to the court order, which has now been made part of the court order, reads as follows:
“The Member of the Executive Committee, Mr Panyaza Lesufi (“MEC”) regrets that he had made utterances on 24 November 2019 that gave the impression that AfriForum had attempted to assassinate him and had been stalking his children. In consequence, the MEC retracts those utterances.”
AfriForum decided to make the settlement reached with Lesufi during October 2021 a court order after Lesufi denied in the media, after the settlement, that he had apologised and continued to make false allegations about AfriForum.
The settlement stipulates that either party, in the event of a breach of the agreement by the other party, can approach the court to make the settlement an order of the court.
According to Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, the fact that the settlement with Lesufi has now been made a court order means that Lesufi will now be guilty of contempt of court should he disregard the settlement again in any way. Kriel pointed out that AfriForum’s legal team recommended that the settlement be made a court order, as the possibility of a contempt complaint as a criminal case has greater deterrent value than just another civil defamation case.
“AfriForum is in favour of public debate, but blatant lies about serious matters, assassination attempts and the stalking of children are no longer debate, but unlawful behavior that cannot be tolerated by AfriForum,” Kriel added.
The settlement, which has now been made a court order, followed after AfriForum began legal proceedings after Lesufi falsely claimed during a media conference in Johannesburg on 24 November 2019 that AfriForum wanted to carry out an assassination on him and stalked his children. According to Kriel, the fact that Lesufi expressed his regret over the statements and the fact that he officially retracted his allegations confirmed that the allegations against AfriForum were nothing but blatant lies.
The settlement was not made public earlier because there was a confidentiality clause in it, but Lesufi abused the confidentiality to repudiate the settlement since and denied that he ever settled the dispute with AfriForum. AfriForum therefore had no other choice but to approach the court now under the terms of the settlement and make it an order of the court.
Issued by Kallie Kriel, CEO, AfriForum, 16 March 2023
