African National Congress secretary general Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele is to pursue a defamation claim against the Mail & Guardian in the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein on Thursday.
The matter relates to printed allegations that Mthembi-Mahanyele, while housing minister, had awarded a building contract to a close friend.
She is to appeal against a Johannesburg High Court ruling in September 2002 in favour of the newspaper and its former editor, Philip van Niekerk, that the allegations were not defamatory.
The court found that Mthembi-Mahanyele had no legal standing to bring a case for defamation of herself — thus raising the question whether Cabinet ministers have such a right in law.
The appeal court will also have to consider whether the South African media enjoy a qualified privilege to publish defamatory statements.
The M&G reports related to a January 1997 transaction in which the Mpumalanga Housing Board awarded a contract to Motheo Construction for the construction of 10 500 housing units at a total cost of R190-million.
The director of Motheo, Thandi Ndlovu, was a close friend of the minister.
The matter resulted in the services of Mthembi-Mahanyele’s then director general Billy Cobbett being ended after he reported concerns over the contract to the auditor general. Cobbett said he was dismissed but the minister maintained he resigned. — Sapa