Former DA leader Mmusi Maimane’s history with the blue party has come back to haunt him.
Sunday World can sensationally reveal that the Western Cape High Court on Friday ordered Maimane, Build One South Africa leader, to pay four former DA councillors close to half a million for wrongly accusing them of corruption.
The complainants are Thulani Stemele, Garreth Barnardo, Suzzette Little and Shaun August, who left South Africa’s biggest opposition party to join Patricia De Lille’s GOOD party but rejoined the DA later.
The four took Maimane to court after he announced at a press conference when he was still the DA leader that they were implicated in what is known as the Bowman’s Report, which looked into allegations of the rot at City of Cape Town, where they served as councillors for the party.
Maimane, according to the judgment, which we have seen, is said to have said the report “made serious findings against those people. They must be investigated.”
The public comments, according to the judgment, were followed up by further allegations contained in the DA’s newsletter, Bokamoso.
In the newsletter, Maimane wrote: “In Cape Town, the DA sought accountability. The city commissioned a report with independent legal firm Bowman Gilfillan, which made adverse findings against some councillors.”
The newsletter went on to say: “But now that a credible forensic investigation by a credible legal firm has allegedly implicated them in tender irregularities, the DA is suddenly a racist party. These councillors have resigned, claiming racial victimhood. Can it be a coincidence that they have suddenly decided the DA is racist now that they stand accused of maladministration?”
The four took offense at these comments and dispatched a letter of demand to Maimane, demanding that he withdraw the statements he made both at the press conference and in the party’s newsletter and apologise for such. But Maimane showed them the middle finger.
Acting Judge Susan van Zyl said the defamation had far-reaching effects on the four’s professional and personal lives.
She then ordered that Maimane pay August R100 000, Little R120 000, Barnardo R135 000 and Stemele R120 000.
Maimane said he would respond appropriately after consulting with his legal team.
“In my view, it’s a gross injustice, a judicial pronouncement on what was an internal party matter. We will take appropriate action as soon as I have consulted with my legal team when I return to SA.
“Effectively I’m now a victim of a class action by councillors who ganged up against me while I was leader of the DA, a case as old as that is old,” said Maimane.
