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High Court in Johannesburg.
The High Court in Johannesburg will on Wednesday hear an urgent application by businessman and philanthropist Collen Mashawana.
Mashawana filed papers with the court seeking an interdict to stop news publication Daily Maverick and investigative journalist Pieter-Louis Myburgh from reporting further on his alleged involvement in the Independent Development Trust (IDT) multi-million rand looting scandal.
In his urgent court papers filed last week, Mashawana described the publication’s reporting as defamatory and an attempt to tarnish his name.
He wants the court to grant a takedown order for existing articles and a gag order to prevent discussion of the matter at the Daily Maverick’s upcoming “The Gathering” conference.
The publication alleges that Mashawana, through his Collen Mashawana Foundation, made at least two payments into IDT CEO Tebogo Malaka’s R16 million luxurious mansion in Waterfall in Johannesburg, while benefiting from a R60 million Expanded Public Works Programme tender through IDT.
Meanwhile, Media Monitoring Africa says cases aimed at silencing investigative journalism focused on exposing corruption in the private and public sectors are increasingly becoming common.
Director William Bird says, “Very often these efforts are made in order to try and silence and censor the journalists, it’s otherwise known as a weaponisation of the courts. It’s a strategic litigation against public participation and that’s when you have a powerful person that seeks to try and use the law in order to stop someone or a group of people from telling their story. It’s completely outrageous that you’ve got someone in the position of power who’s been exposed for wrongdoing instead of spinning their way, they go and threaten the media trying to silence them. It’s also futile to be doing this when the story is already out there.”
PODCAST | William Bird comments on court challenge between Mashawana and the Daily Maverick:
-Additional reporting by Ntombi Mavimbela
