NPA ordered to pay DA MP R300,000 in defamation case

The National Prosecuting Authority has been ordered to pay R300,000 in damages toDA MP Mlindi Nhanhaafter a court found that a press statement from the authority linking him to attempted murder and assault was defamatory. The Eastern Cape HighCourtin Makhanda ruled that the NPA’s press release went beyond a suggestion of mere suspicion. “The press statement imputed the criminal offences of attempted murder and an assault to the plaintiff (Nhanha).

That was per se defamatory,” read the judgment. Nhanha was arrested in April 2021 after a domestic altercation in Dyamala location, Alice, involving his wife. At the centre of the civil suit is a press release by the NPA which stated that Nhanha had an altercation with his wife, assaulted her, then chased his brother-in-law, Mxolisi Daniel, from the homestead.

The statement added that Nhanha then became violent towards his brother-in-law, went to his car, took his firearm and shot at Daniel, missing him. The attempted murder charge was later dropped after several court appearances. In court papers, Nhanha said the press statement was untrue, wrongful and defamatory “…

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in that it was intended and was understood by readers of the press statement to mean that (he) was guilty of attempted murder, that he was assaulting his wife and that he had shot at his brother in law”. Nhanha said the statement was written with the intention to defame him and to cause irreparable harm to his name and reputation. Nhanha argued that it went beyond merely reporting his arrest and instead portrayed him as guilty of serious crimes, including gender-based violence (GBV).

Acting-judge of the high court Nicola Molony agreed, rejecting the NPA’s defence that the contents were substantially true. “It thus cannot be said that the contents of the press statement were substantially true, and the defendant’s defence in this regard must fail. The defendant (NPA) accordingly did not successfully rebut the presumption of wrongfulness and unlawfulness and is liable to pay the damages suffered by the plaintiff.

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