MK boss ends ‘soap opera’ with apology

FINGER pointing and mudslinging dominated a highly politicised defamation case in the Pretoria High Court which pitted ANC veterans and former Umkhonto we Sizwe comrades against each other.

The case between a former intelligence minister, Ronnie Kasrils, and deputy defence minister, Kebby Maphatsoe, played itself out yesterday like a drawn-out soap opera.

In the end the two reached a settlement, which saw Maphatsoe apologising to Kasrils after conceding he had made false claims about Kasrils.

He also agreed to pay Kasrils R500 000, which Kasrils will put in a trust for the woman known as Khwezi – President Jacob Zuma’s rape accuser.

Kasrils was suing Maphatsoe for R1-million over statements he made about him in 2014 that he had sent Khwezi to Zuma’s home on the night she claimed she was raped and of being “antirevolutionary” and an “enemy of the people”.

Maphatsoe made the claims as chairman of the MK Veterans Association in response to the launch of a Vote No campaign ahead of the national elections, of which Kasrils was part.

In the settlement Maphatsoe admitted the claims were “false, offensive and unacceptable”.

“The defendant appreciates the plaintiff is not the only person who was offended by the statements. Many women in society who are victims of rape were justifiably offended by the statement.

“The apology is extended to all women of South Africa. Many members of the MK Veterans Association are women. They paid the ultimate price for freedom. It is wrong that they must be subjected to physical violence and experience the emotional trauma consequent to lack of judgment when their leaders make public pronouncements in their name,” Maphatsoe said.