Pair ordered to remove racist posts
A FINAL order has been granted in favour of a former acting municipal manager in Newcastle after defamatory and racist posts were published about him on Facebook.
Vish Govender, now the strategic executive director of community service in the Newcastle Municipality, made an application for the respondents, businessmen Lekgotla Monareng and Sakhile Mkhwanazi, to remove the offensive posts and to refrain from further posts.
In one post, purportedly from Monareng’s Facebook page, he referred to Govender as racist, corrupt, and an anti-African Asian boy.
In the comments section of the post, Mkhwanazi allegedly wrote: What’s the story with k **** boy who has no regard for blacks?
In another post, Monareng calls for the IFP (the governing party in the municipality) to fire Govender.
He allegedly wrote: The Indian boy by qualification is a gardener.
In his founding affidavit, Govender, who was the acting municipal manager from January 2021 to January 2022, said he met Monareng briefly 15 years ago at an ANC meeting.
“Apart from this brief interaction, the first respondent is unknown to me, and I have had no interaction with the first respondent to date.
“I am aware that the first respondent held the title of regional secretary of the Emahlaleni region of the ANC. It appears that he continues to be disgruntled by his non-election and seems to challenge my administration of the municipality as a means to possibly secure some favourable positioning.”
Govender said he did not have a Facebook
profile and a colleague informed him in January about the comments.
He said from January 25, Monareng embarked on a campaign to promote and publish false and hurtful statements about him.
“The aforesaid post has exacerbated and resulted in other inflammatory comments from other members on the Facebook platform. An example is the immediate response from the second respondent, which again portrays me as a racist.”
Govender said, from what he knew, Mkhwanazi’s mother was a former councillor within the Newcastle Municipality. Govender alleged that her contract was terminated following her dismissal by the ANC in October.
He said the second post by Monareng was allegedly to gain political favour and influence his removal from the office of the municipal manager.
“The post further infringes upon my dignity and integrity by suggesting that I have taken away the dignity of black persons. This recent post is not only slanderous and hurtful but also a blatant untruth.”
An interim order was made final in the Pietermaritzburg High Court after the application remained unopposed.
The order subsequently directed the respondents to remove all posts or messages that referred to Govender.
Monareng and Mkhwanazi were further directed to refrain from making, publishing, or distributing defamatory statements about Govender.
They were also directed to refrain from publishing any falsehoods that were injurious to the commercial interests or occupation of Govender to any third party.
The respondents did not comment at the time of publication.