By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
@Mol.
TV mogul Basetsana Kumalo and her husband Romeo Kumalo have emerged victorious in their crimen injuria case against author and media personality, Jackie Phamotse on Tuesday.
Phamotse was found guilty on two counts of crimen injuria and another count of contempt of court by the Randburg magistrate’s court.
Magistrate S Naidoo ruled that under cross-examination, Phamotse’s version surrounding the circumstances that saw her publish the contentious June 2018 tweet was unlikely to be true and that she was aware that it was harmful to Basetsana’s and her husband, Romeo’s, reputation.
Naidoo said that Phamotse was an elusive witness who, at times, hesitated to answer simple questions.
“She did not testify in a clear nor in a forthright manner. Under cross-examination, she stated that the tweet in question was put out as research for her book,The Hockey Club, and that the tweet did appear in that book. However, when pressed to show where in the book the tweet appeared, she capitulated and said one would need to read the book,” stated Naidoo.
She said that Phamotse also contended that the State was selective in gathering the tweets and that the exhibits did not comprise all the reply tweets relating to the contentious tweet.
Five years ago, Phamotse shocked social media users when she tweeted: Just overheard a painful conversation, a female TV mogul pleading with one of my girls to not share videos of her drunk and her husband [sic] rimming a celebrity boy!!!!!!!!! What the hell!!!! Kanti, what kind of marriages do we have now!!! I have asked to see this video.
Speaking outside the court, Kumalo said it was a victory for those who had been bullied online.
“Somebody decided to wake up and get on a Twitter mountain with their keyboard. This is a victory for every single person. There are many people in this country who’ve taken their lives from being cyber bullied and today this unprecedented judgement is for all of us.”
Kumalo painted a picture of a traumatised family over the last five years.
“This is for my children, who had to live in shame for the last five years, for my parent’s legacy who raised us well and today I want to thank everybody… I mean this is my guy,” said Kumalo, embracing her lawyer with a hug.
Sentencing in the matter has been postponed to October 24.
Phamotse has since protected her X account since news of the judgement broke, blocking non-followers from seeing her tweets.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson, Phindi Mjonondwane, said: “We are encouraged by the ruling as the NPA as it is a groundbreaking ruling. This judgment will go a long way in teaching society about the dangers of social media and will also go a long way in instilling responsible social media usage.”
The Randburg Magistrates’ Court found Jacqueline Katleho Phamotse guilty on two counts of crimen injuria, one count of defamation and one of contempt of court. pic.twitter.com/TmfmJiYkzo
— NPASouthAfrica (@NPA_Prosecutes) September 19, 2023
“The court had to weigh the rights of the accused, the right to freedom of speech against the rights of the complainants, the right to a good name as well as the right to dignity. We believe that today’s judgment will serve to deter social media users from using social media to attack others and will also go a long way in eradicating cyberbullying,” Mjonondwane added.