An interdict to prevent the Mail & Guardian from publishing was dismissed with costs in the High Court at 3am on Friday morning, after the attempt to gag the newspaper was launched at midnight by lawyers acting for the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) and its chairperson, Joyce Kgoali.
Kgoali objected to the planned publication of an article revealing that a number of Members of Parliament, including herself, had not made full disclosures in the parliamentary register of members’ interests, which was released for public scrutiny a week ago.
The M&G found that several MPs had neglected or forgotten to include their interests in various companies. The rules governing disclosure say all private work and business must be disclosed in the open section of the register, with the details of payments included in the confidential section.
Lawyers claimed that the M&G had breached the confidential section of the register (which includes particulars of payments) to publish details — a claim denied by the newspaper.
They also said the action was brought because the revelations could ”taint the image of the NCOP”.
Kgoali is out of the country and the decision to launch the interdict application was taken by her office manager, Moroka Matutle, who said he had been instructed to stop publication by the speaker of the National Assembly, Baleka Mbete; the deputy speaker of the NCOP MJ Mahlangu; and the African National Congress’s deputy chief whip, Andries Nel.
The judge, who dismissed the application with costs after hearing both sides, said that Matutle did not have locus standi (the right to represent and appear) on behalf of the NCOP. He also said that Kgoali had other remedies (like further action) open to her instead of an urgent interdict.
M&G editor Ferial Haffajee said she welcomed the fact that the interdict was unsuccessful, ”for there can be nothing more devastating for a newspaper than not being able to hit the streets”’.
”In addition, we view the action as an attempted infringement of our right to freedom of expression and maintain that Kgoali’s office was given adequate opportunities to respond.
”It is a legitimate area of public inquiry to check up on the details of the register of interests,” Haffajee said.
M&G CEO Trevor Ncube told the Mail & Guardian Online on Friday: ”We are excited at the decision handed down by the courts early this [Friday] morning. It is evidence that the courts are determined to protect freedom of expression and press freedom. It strengthens our hand in ensuring that we do our job as best as we can within the laws of the land.
”One of our functions in our young democracy is to ensure that all elected officials remain accountable to the people and that they realise that they are our servants, not our masters.
”Accountability and transparency are vital ingredients of a functioning democracy and we have a duty to cultivate these positive traits in our society.”
MPs who tried to cover their assets