Damages for defamed ‘rapist’ student

FOLLOWING the rape and killing of UCT student Uyinene Mrwetyana, a fellow student wrongfully identified as an “assaulter and rapist” claimed damages from another student who added his name to the list.

The student’s name appeared on a list handed out on campus and published on social media.

Mrwetyana’s death sparked an outrage in 2019, and while a memorial service was held for her on campus, students distributed a list of students they regarded as women abusers and rapists on campus.

While UCT at the time distanced themselves from the list and pleaded with students not to distribute the list, it found its way to social media.

The plaintiff (whose name Independent Media decided not to publish) said his life was ruined because he was seen as a women abuser and rapist, while he was totally innocent.

He turned to the Western Cape High Court, where he claimed damages against a fellow student at the time, Siphelele Nxumalo.

While Nxumalo did not attend court to defend the claim, the plaintiff said she told him at the time that while she did not believe he was a woman abuser, a friend asked her to add his name to the list, which she had also published on her social media accounts.

Judge Elizabeth Baartman said given the nature of gender-based violence (GBV) in the country and the fact that the court did not want to discourage victims from reporting cases, she went out of her way to try to afford Nxumalo the opportunity to place her side of the story before the court.

“The matter raises a number of relevant issues, and the result of these proceedings will have consequences for all involved. Importantly, the matter has a wider social context because affected persons may have many reasons to prefer not to use the UCT process.

“Importantly, these proceedings could deter survivors or victims of GBV from reporting incidents of violence and so perpetuate these soul-destroying crimes. Therefore, it was important to afford the defendant every opportunity to defend the claim against her,” the judge said.

With numerous fruitless attempts to engage with Nxumalo, the court’s patience ran out and judgment by default was this week obtained against her.

The court ordered that she had to pay the plaintiff about R300 000 in total, which included general damages as well as his past and future medical expenses.

She must apologise to him within 30 days and remove the offending posts from her social media accounts.

Expert witnesses told the court that the plaintiff suffered from post traumatic stress disorder following his ordeal in being wrongly earmarked as a woman abuser.

The plaintiff himself told the court that the false accusation shattered him.

On September 4, 2019, the university held a highly publicised memorial service for the slain student and hundreds attended.

At that service, a list of alleged “rapists at UCT” was read out that included the plaintiff.

The list was disseminated to attendees at the memorial service and made its way onto social media platforms.

The list has since been circulated on the anniversary of the event.

At the time, the plaintiff was a 20-year-old final-year Bachelor of Social Science student.

The plaintiff said he became a hermit and no longer attended lectures.

“I was very anxious. I was having panic attacks regularly … bad ones where you kind of drop and convulse.

“I was suicidal and I was just immobilised ... I called some suicide hotlines,” he told the court.

He eventually left UCT and went to the University of Johannesburg as he thought life would be easier there.

Medical experts meanwhile said he is still so traumatised that he should continue with psychotherapy.

The court ordered payment of R80 000 for the harm caused to the plaintiff’s reputation, R23 279 for past medical expenses and R200 000 for future medical expenses.