The Delta Motor Corporation was granted an interim interdict on Friday evening prohibiting the son of a prominent politician from exhibiting his car, which is covered in slogans denouncing the company.
Jaco van der Merwe, son of Inkatha Freedom Party Chief Whip Koos van der Merwe, was ordered by the Pretoria High Court not to display his Isuzu at a 4X4 exhibition in Kyalami on Saturday.
The Isuzu, which Van der Merwe claims is defective, is covered in slogans such as ”The worst 4X4 by far”, and ”Gravel road breaks chassis”.
The company was granted an interim order, with a return date of June 27, during which time Van der Merwe was not allowed to spread or publish defamatory statements about Delta’s products.
On the return date, Van der Merwe will have to show cause why the interdict should not be made permanent.
Judge Johann van der Westhuizen said that while he was loath to inhibit anyone’s right to freedom of expression, such right had to be exercised responsibly. It had to be based on the premise of encouraging free and open debate.
In this case, Delta was not given a fair chance to respond to Van der Merwe’s slogans, except if it made even bigger posters denouncing him.
”I do not think the display of banners with certain slogans which in very harsh words imply a certain product is below standard could be regarded as a reasonable and acceptable form of expression,” the judge said.
He likened Van der Merwe’s signs to a sort of commercial hate speech, ”to which no meaningful response is possible”.
Van der Merwe claims his Isuzu’s chassis snapped while on holiday in Namibia in April last year. The car was a year old at the time, and had about 29 000km on the clock.
He says Delta, from which he bought the car, refused to repair or replace the vehicle.
For its part, Delta maintains the chassis could only bend if subjected to misuse or negligence.
After several failed communications with Delta, Van der Merwe started a campaign against the company, which included applying the slogans to his car and displaying it in public places. He also started a ”chain” e-mail campaign.
Delta claims his version of events had been disseminated to all four corners of the country, and abroad as far as Australia. It also described his claims as a smear campaign — unfair, unfounded and unsupported by the facts.
Delta brought an urgent application in the Pretoria High Court on Friday afternoon to stop Van der Merwe from displaying his car at Kyalami on Saturday morning. – Sapa