The Bloemfontein High Court on Tuesday dismissed with costs an application by journalist Ranjeni Munusamy to protect her from testifying before the Hefer commission.
Judge president JP Malherbe found that retired judge and commissioner Joos Hefer’s ruling that she must testify before other witnesses are called did not violate her constitutional rights.
”The articles in the City Press that emanate from (Munusamy) constitute the beginning of this ‘story’,” Malherbe argued in his judgment.
”She is the primary source of information about her investigations. The obvious place to start is where the ‘story’ begins.”
Munusamy had asked the high court to set aside Hefer’s ruling that she must testify, but had the right to object to certain questions. She held that it violated her constitutional right by forcing her to disclose confidential sources.
Alternatively, she asked the high court to rule that she must only be called to the stand ”last and least” — after all other potential sources had been exhausted.
Munusamy was the main author of a City Press report in which spying allegations against national Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka first surfaced.
The Hefer commission was appointed shortly afterwards to probe these allegations. – Sapa