Windhoek High Court Judge Gabriel Oosthuizen will endeavour to deliver judgment on an application by mining giant Namdeb against the Landless People’s Movement by 10 May.
He made this announcement on Tuesday.
Namdeb is asking the High Court to interdict the LPM and its leaders from publishing “defamatory” statements about its directors, managers and staff on social media.
Namdeb cited the LPM and its leader and chief-change-campaigner Bernardus Swartbooi, his deputy Henny Seibeb, Windhoek councillor Sade Gawanas, Melody Swartbooi and Easter Isaak as respondents in the matter.
Namdeb claims the LPM orange brigade is spewing false, untrue and defamatory statements against them, and wants the court to stop them.
During oral submission, Advocate Andrew Corbett, argued on behalf of Namdeb, that the utterances by LPM and its leaders are damaging the international image of the mine.
According to him, the statements are not off the cuff remarks, but follow a pattern of deliberate abuse. He told the judge that although freedom of speech is guaranteed in the Constitution, it does not “give anyone the right to spread lies about other people”.
“There is a distinction between freedom of speech and the right to be protected from victimisation,” Corbett stated.
He asked the court to protect his clients and order the respondents to refrain from uttering untruths and slanderous statements.
The mine wants the court to order the respondents to refrain from making or publishing, posting and/or distributing untrue and defamatory statements concerning the applicant and/or any of the applicant’s directors, senior management or employees, insinuating that they have committed or are guilty of criminality or crimes including theft, fraud, corruption.
These include statements that the applicant’s senior management cannot be trusted, are involved in illegal mining activities, are guilty of nepotism, wasting state resources, tax evasion, bribery and mafia-style leadership and tactics.
They further want the court to order the respondents to remove from or cause to be removed from Facebook and/or any other social media platforms, or wherever so published, all references and/or statements concerning the applicant and/or any of its directors, senior management, or employees.
Henry Shimutwikeni on behalf of the LPM argued that the Namdeb did not prove the actual allegations.
He further said that should the mine be in a position to prove who uttered the alleged defamatory statements; they should bring a claim for damages against such persons.
Shimutwikeni urged the court to carefully consider the individual statements and the manner in which they are connected to the respondents.
“Applicants should have instituted defamation action against individual persons and not against the party and its leaders,” Shimutwikeni said.
He asked the court to dismiss the action with costs on the scale of party to party.
Corbett asked for a rule nisi against the respondents and for the rule nisi to be published in the New Era, Sun and Republikein newspapers and to be broadcasted on national radio.
He also asked for punitive costs on the scale of one instructing and two instructed counsel. He was instructed by Raywood Rukoro.