'Vavi won't apologise'

4 June 2010, 12:36
Related Articles
Vavi may be sued for claim about Nyanda
Sama supports Vavi in spat with ANC
Vavi: charges could end alliance
Future of Cosatu depends on ANC alliance
ANC mum on Vavi

Congress of SA Trade Unions general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi will not apologise for linking Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda to a complaint that reports of corruption are not investigated, his counsel said on Friday.

"He hasn't received that letter yet, even though it is in all the newspapers," said Cosatu spokesman Patrick Craven of a letter demanding a public apology and a retraction.

"I am confident that he will not be apologising, because he has nothing to apologise for," said Craven.

Craven explained that Vavi recently delivered a speech in which he complained that newspapers continued to carry stories of allegations of corruption against ministers, but that the president and the Cabinet had yet to say these allegations would be investigated.

No names were mentioned in the written speech.

When a reporter later asked Vavi which ministers he was referring to, he named Nyanda and Local Government Minister Sicelo Shiceka.

The Mail&Guardian had reported earlier that Nyanda ran up R500 000 in hotel bills in Cape Town waiting for his official residence to be ready, and that Shiceka allegedly doctored his curriculum vitae.

"He wasn't making any fresh allegations," said Craven. These are people against whom allegations have been made, and that is public knowledge."

Nyanda disagrees.

"We have proceeded to demand a retraction and an apology from Mr Vavi for allegations which are calculated to be understood by an audience that our client is morally reprehensible and that he is corrupt," said Siyabonga Mahlangu, director of litigation at Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs.

This, after reports that the ANC planned to subject Vavi to a disciplinary hearing for the comments.

Cosatu has described the move as unprecedented and has said it would destroy its alliance with the ANC and the SA Communist Party.

Mahlangu said the firm had not been briefed to deal with the details of the story, but Nyanda wanted the retraction of the defamatory allegations made against him, and an unqualified apology, by June 10.

"Our courts have ruled that a repetition of a defamatory statement in itself constitutes a cause of action against a person repeating such defamatory allegations."

The demand is that Vavi's retraction and apology must be published in the same matter and through the same media that he used when he made the statement.

Nyanda's lawyers were not instructed to demand an apology from the publications which carried the allegations.

The firm believed "in freedom of the press and the media's duty to inform the nation" and that courts applied different standards to the press. He said the legal team would "take a view" if Vavi did not comply.

"What the minister wants to protect, is to protect his right to his good name and to his dignity as a person," said Mahlangu.

"He moves from a premise that as a public representative he still maintains his rights to his dignity and his good name and that in fact, it is upon such dignity and such good name and reputation that he was entrusted with public responsibilities," he said.

The team was waiting to hear from Vavi whether he had explanation or facts that could be brought to Nyanda's attention which would inform how the team proceeded with the matter. - Sapa

The Star

Comments by Sonny

Why should Vavi apologise?

He is not supposed to be an ANC pawn or prawn!

Has Zuma's wife apologised to the nation?

Did Zuma really apologise to SA?
Vavi may be sued for claim about Nyanda

4 June 2010, 07:03
Related Articles
Cosatu stands behind Vavi
ANC poised to charge Vavi
Vavi hits out at Zuma about corruption

Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda has threatened to sue Cosatu boss Zwelinzima Vavi as tensions - sparked by the ANC's threat to charge the union leader - intensify, endangering the already strained tripartite alliance.

The government has indirectly defended Nyanda, cautioning Vavi to think twice before making allegations.

The ANC's national working committee (NWC) discussed charging Vavi for urging President Jacob Zuma to probe allegations of corruption involving ministers.

Vavi specifically cited allegations against Nyanda and Co-operative Governance Minister Sicelo Shiceka as evidence that Zuma and the cabinet were slow in acting against corruption.

Nyanda wants Vavi to apologise for insinuating that the former defence chief is corrupt, giving the union leader a week to retract his statement or face legal action.

Vavi said he had not yet received a lawyer's letter.

It was reported that companies linked to Nyanda received irregular government tenders worth millions of rands, and that Nyanda spent R500 000 of taxpayers' money on lavish hotel stays in Cape Town.

Nyanda believes that Vavi calculated his comments to insinuate that he was a "corrupt minister".

His lawyers, Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs, are demanding that Vavi make an "unqualified" retraction through the media "of any reference or insinuation that our client is a corrupt individual or corrupt minister, and accompanied by an unqualified apology".

Nyanda's lawyers believe Vavi's statement "constitutes a gross violation of our client's right to his good name and reputation and is per se defamatory".

It is not the first time Nyanda and Vavi have crossed swords. After Cosatu criticised ministers for driving flashy cars, Nyanda blasted the union for grandstanding.

Nyanda is part of the NWC that decided to charge Vavi.

Government spokesman Themba Maseko said: "We will be concerned about leaders making statements that could be considered to be inflammatory in public, and my expectation is that leaders will think twice before they make such serious statements in public."

This article was originally published on page 1 of The Star on June 04, 2010

Ther Star

Comments by Sonny

Vavi's utterances have been in the public realm for a long time, who says they are

not fact!

Or is SA Alice in Wonderland!