In dismissing every aspect of former president Jacob Zuma’s private prosecution against senior reporter Karyn Maughan and prosecutor Billy Downer, the high court took note of the abuse, harassment and continued attempts at silencing Maughan.
It noted that the prosecution of a journalist doing their job had “all the elements of a SLAPP [strategic litigation against public participation] suit”, which is litigation used to silence journalists and whistle-blowers. We should all rejoice that a court saw fit to not only protect a prominent reporter, but also to do so with such stentorian tones.
Zuma accused Downer of leaking private medical information to Maughan, during the arms deal trial in which Zuma is one of the accused. However, judge Piet Koen who was presiding at the time, ruled that the “information” in question was vague, provided no detail about Zuma’s medical condition and was attached to public court papers. Zuma did not ask for it be made confidential either.
Despite Koen’s finding, Zuma persisted in a separate court in claiming his rights had been violated criminally and that this warranted criminal sanction of not only Downer but also Maughan, who wrote about the doctor’s note in her coverage. This is despite the fact that Downer had not even given the note to Maughan.
A full bench of the high court in Pietermaritzburg dismissed every argument Zuma’s lawyers made. The court found not only was there no basis for claiming Zuma had suffered any harm, but that he was using the private prosecution to prevent her doing her job.
“We agree that the only inference to be drawn ... coupled with the social media attacks on her [is that this was] done with the intent to intimidate and harass her and prevent her from performing her duties as a journalist. It is done for an improper motive not with the intent of addressing any wrongdoing on her part,” the court said in its judgment.
It emphasised that journalists must be able “to report freely on matters of public interest without threats and without intimidation and harassment”, and ordered that Zuma be prevented from instituting private prosecution against Maughan (and Downer) on these facts in future.
Court processes are about obtaining justice. But justice extends beyond the court rooms and into the everyday lives of ordinary South Africans. They have to be able to move freely, operate without threat, love who they want and be themselves.
There is something to be said about using the tools of justice to do that which is unjust. Those who claim to want a vindication of their rights while stampeding over others must be stopped. The hard-won tools of justice in SA cannot be turned into weapons of intimidation by the powerful, popular or wealthy.
We need courts, now more than ever, to speak in greater volume, and to selfishly protect their processes from injustice. They must continue to speak freely and openly when they find their processes under threat or subject to abuse. A fearful court is not an impartial court and no justice can flow from its rulings.
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