Zuma loses bid to appeal Hanekom judgment
The KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg has dismissed former president Jacob Zuma’s bid to appeal its ruling on the defamation lawsuit against former minister Derek Hanekom.
In September, Judge Dhaya Pillay ruled that Zuma's tweet, in which he accused the African National Congress (ANC) national executive committee member of being “a known enemy agent”, was defamatory and false.
She ordered Zuma to apologise, remove the tweet and to pay damages.
Zuma’s attempted to appeal this ruling on grounds that the court ignored the political context of the tweet.
But on Thursday Judge Dhaya Pillay reiterated that the court will desist from entering into the political sphere.
“The court’s function is limited to determining the dispute on principles grounded in law. This is what the parties seek for leave to appeal.
“In the opinion of this court an appeal against its judgment of 6 September 2019 would not have any reasonable prospects of success for another court. Consequently, the application for leave to appeal is dismissed.”
READ: [LISTEN] Ruling about more than clearing my name, says Hanekom