Former Eskom CEO Matshela Koko could have the tables turned on him by the high court in Johannesburg after his attempt to extract damages for defamation from a 72-year-old nursery school principal in an alleged “Slapp suit” ran aground.
The case to claim R500,000 from Barbara Tanton, principal of the Little Academy Preschool in Centurion, was heard last week. It centres on a tweet she made, which Koko said effectively called him a thief. Tanton closed her Twitter account but refused to apologise.
Koko told CapeTalk in January that he was suing Tanton because she “needed a big klap”.
But he was compelled to abandon his damages demand, after acting judge Adele de Wet refused to allow him to claim damages in motion proceedings based on an affidavit. This follows the Supreme Court of Appeal ruling in December, in which the court said that damages may be awarded only after oral argument.
Tanton’s lawyers are now claiming costs against Koko, a matter which is to be decided when judgment is handed down in the coming few months.
the age of the nursery school principal from whom former Eskom CEO Matshela Koko sought R500,000 in damages because of a tweet
— 72
One of the arguments for costs against Koko put forward by Tanton’s counsel, Ben Winks, was that the case amounted to a strategic lawsuit against public participation (Slapp), a strategy used by powerful people and companies to shut up and financially ruin activists, who will not be able to afford the litigation.
Koko has denied this, saying that he is putting an end to the impunity of people who have harmed his good name.
In an interview on Thursday, Koko said that he had dropped his damages demand because of the technicality that he had used the wrong court process. However, he did not withdraw the case entirely, which would have automatically resulted in costs being awarded against him.
His counsel, Johan Moorcroft, instead argued that because Koko had already been substantively successful in that Tanton had closed her Twitter account, he should not have costs awarded against him.
Numerous allegations have been published in the media about Koko, all of which he has denied. These include that Eskom awarded a R800m contract to a company with which his stepdaughter was associated and the money later flowed to his wife. He left Eskom in 2018 after being placed on suspension with misconduct charges against him.
Koko said while he was taking advice on whether to still pursue Tanton for damages in a different process, he was determined to proceed with a separate defamation case against former Financial Mail deputy editor Sikonathi Mantshantsha.
Mantshantsha, who is now Eskom spokesperson, wrote extensively on Koko’s alleged involvement in corruption at Eskom. The lawsuit followed a tweet in which he predicted the arrest, conviction and sentencing of Koko. Mantshantsha also refused to apologise.
Koko gave evidence at the Zondo commission in a bid to exonerate himself. “I’ve endured a lot. One of the things I am waiting for is the Zondo commission report so the public can know what happened,” he said.
A threat to sue another journalist has not materialised.
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