The Star newspaper had an urgent interim interdict granted against it on Monday night. This prevented it from publishing anything in the Difford versus Difford case that contravened certain sections of the Divorce Act.
The case is a precedent-setting paternity fraud case before the Johannesburg High Court, the Star reported on Tuesday.
Prominent former estate agent Claire Difford (54) and her son Paul Difford (31) brought the application against the Star in the high court before Judge Meyer at 10pm on Monday.
The paper reported that Meyer made an order by agreement between the parties that the Star would not contravene section 12 of the Divorce Act, which prohibits the publication of certain details of divorce proceedings.
The judge refused to grant a blanket ban on publication, however, saying that he would limit the interdict specifically to reporting on matters that contravened sections of the Divorce Act.
The ruling on Monday night followed an interdict against the Sunday Times on April 28, which forced it to recall thousands of copies with details of the Difford case on the front page.
The newspaper then applied to become part of the trial, joining plaintiff Ian Difford in a bid to ensure the matter was opened to the public.
Earlier on Monday, Judge Tsoka ruled the case should be heard in public. — Sapa