Hanekom throws down the gauntlet to Zuma

Former president Jacob Zuma’s lawyer says he will turn to the Constitutional Court to challenge the ruling that Zuma defamed former minister Derek Hanekom by tweeting that he was a “known enemy agent”.

He said this was necessary to address “serious matters of law ... especially in the context of social media”.

But as Zuma’s newly appointed attorney, Eric Mabuza, on Sunday confirmed that he was preparing to file an application to appeal against the Durban high court’s ruling against him, Hanekom’s lawyers have made it clear that the former minister will consider possible contempt of court proceedings if Zuma fails to delete the tweet by 8pm on Monday.

Mabuza has previously told Business Day that Zuma could not be forced to delete the tweet, as he had 14 days in which to lodge his appeal. On Sunday he denied any suggestion that Zuma’s intention to appeal against the Durban high court’s ruling against him was aimed at delaying the finalisation of Hanekom’s R500,000 damages claim against him. “It’s not a delaying tactic. We believe the judgment is susceptible to challenge in the Constitutional Court and we are working on the application for leave to appeal.”

The alleged defamation committed on Twitter needed to be evaluated differently, because “Twitter allows a person who believes he has been defamed to respond immediately to that alleged defamation”.

The Supreme Court of Appeal last week dismissed Zuma’s application for leave to appeal judge Dhaya Pillay’s ruling, which barred Zuma from accusing Hanekom of being a “known enemy agent” or “apartheid spy”. Hanekom was one of a few high-profile ANC members to call for Zuma to step down.

In a decision that could make it difficult for Zuma to convince the Constitutional Court to even hear his challenge to the Pillay decision, the appeal court found that “there is no reasonable prospects of success in an appeal and there is no other compelling reason an appeal should be heard”.

The saga has its roots in a tweet posted by Zuma just days after he told the Zondo commission that foreign and apartheid intelligence agencies had planted agents within the ANC. He suggested that his legal and political difficulties were a consequence of him knowing the identities of these “spies”.

After giving that testimony and in response to EFF leader Julius Malema’s claims that Hanekom “gave us the list of the ANC MPs who were going to vote with us in the vote of no confidence against Jacob Zuma”, Zuma tweeted: “I’m not surprised by @Julius_S_Malema revelations regarding @Derek_Hanekom. It is part of the plan I mentioned at the Zondo Commission. @Derek_Hanekom is a known enemy agent.”

Zuma’s lawyers insist his tweet about Hanekom was written “in the context of the undisputed allegations made by Malema about [Hanekom’s] clandestine role in toppling [Zuma] from the position of state president” and did not state that he was an apartheid spy.

Hanekom says he disputed that he gave a list of ANC MPs who would vote against Zuma to the EFF, but confirmed he met with the party’s Godrich Gardee on at least three occasions “to discuss a range of issues”.

TWITTER ALLOWS A PERSON WHO BELIEVES HE HAS BEEN DEFAMED TO RESPOND IMMEDIATELY TO THAT ... DEFAMATION