By THANDUXOLO JIKA
What do you do when your political rival posts “damaging” information about you on Facebook when there is no dislike button option? You go to court.
That is what DA mayoral candidate in Nelson Mandela Bay metro Athol Trollip did.
The Sunday Times can reveal that Trollip has issued R1-million summons to former DA PR councillor Knight Mali, who defected to the ANC in June.
Trollip claims Mali defamed him with his Facebook posts on May 30 which reads: “Our mayor (Danny Jordaan) cannot debate a fugitive, Athol Trollip who is running away from his farmworkers that accuse him of human rights abuse and amongst other things.
“Paying them R80 a month, no running water nor toilets for decades, illegally evicted from the farm. The list goes on… The irony is that during that debate, Danny went to attend commemoration event of the PEPCO 3 who were brutalized & slaughtered by apartheid police & army which Athol Trollip was a member of! So you reduce Danny to fugitives and apartheid machinery.”
In court papers Trollip says Mali’s Facebook post had nothing to do with political-mudslinging but was meant to cause “irreparable harm” to his good name and reputation.
He argues that Mali accused him of being guilty of gross human rights abuses, racism, cruelty, exploitation, violence, land dispossession, abandonment, being rude, and evil. He claims that this has caused him to suffer damages of up to R1-million.
But Mali this week laughed off Trollip’s accusations and revealed he was intending to issue counter-summons after defending this case.
“The case of Athol Trollip against me bears no sense nor any legal basis. I will definitely defend it and in fact I will file a counter-claim lawsuit against Trollip due to many derogatory and defamatory comments he made against me in the media.
“He has embarked on a concerted campaign of name-calling, cheap politics and political persecution against me. The summons is just another addition in a string of vindictive and desperate attempts to threaten me. Athol Trollip is bitter because I left the DA and I exposed its racism on several occasions,” said Mali.
He said Trollip’s lawsuit against him was an attempt to silence him and the farmworkers who accused him of mistreatment.
“This case is politically motivated and is designed to intimidate myself and deter me from pursuing the cases against him with the farmworkers. This is yet another case out of many cases he has opened against his political opponents. True to the character of a farmer, he threatens people and attempts to deal with them harshly,” said Mali.
It was reported earlier this year that several former farmworkers and their relatives had made statements accusing Trollip and his family of mistreating them while they were employed at Mount Prospect farm near Bedford.
Trollip denied all the allegations and the Human Rights Commission said it couldn’t investigate the case as it predated its existence.
Tollip’s lawyer Brin Brody said both the DA and his client had engaged Mali about his involvement in the securing of the “so-called affidavits” (farmworkers’ affidavits) when he was a member of the DA.
“He constantly denied any involvement in this regard, yet now constantly makes reference to these so-called allegations,” said Brody.
Trollip is also suing Nelson Mandela Bay ANC councillor Lawrence Troon for R5-million for alleged defamation. The case will be heard in February next year.
Trollip to sue over 'damaging' Facebook claims by DA defector
What do you do when your political rival posts “damaging” information about you on Facebook when there is no dislike button option? You go to court.
That is what DA mayoral candidate in Nelson Mandela Bay metro Athol Trollip did.
The Sunday Times can reveal that Trollip has issued R1-million summons to former DA PR councillor Knight Mali, who defected to the ANC in June.
Trollip claims Mali defamed him with his Facebook posts on May 30 which reads: “Our mayor (Danny Jordaan) cannot debate a fugitive, Athol Trollip who is running away from his farmworkers that accuse him of human rights abuse and amongst other things.
“Paying them R80 a month, no running water nor toilets for decades, illegally evicted from the farm. The list goes on… The irony is that during that debate, Danny went to attend commemoration event of the PEPCO 3 who were brutalized & slaughtered by apartheid police & army which Athol Trollip was a member of! So you reduce Danny to fugitives and apartheid machinery.”
In court papers Trollip says Mali’s Facebook post had nothing to do with political-mudslinging but was meant to cause “irreparable harm” to his good name and reputation.
He argues that Mali accused him of being guilty of gross human rights abuses, racism, cruelty, exploitation, violence, land dispossession, abandonment, being rude, and evil. He claims that this has caused him to suffer damages of up to R1-million.
But Mali this week laughed off Trollip’s accusations and revealed he was intending to issue counter-summons after defending this case.
“The case of Athol Trollip against me bears no sense nor any legal basis. I will definitely defend it and in fact I will file a counter-claim lawsuit against Trollip due to many derogatory and defamatory comments he made against me in the media.
“He has embarked on a concerted campaign of name-calling, cheap politics and political persecution against me. The summons is just another addition in a string of vindictive and desperate attempts to threaten me. Athol Trollip is bitter because I left the DA and I exposed its racism on several occasions,” said Mali.
He said Trollip’s lawsuit against him was an attempt to silence him and the farmworkers who accused him of mistreatment.
“This case is politically motivated and is designed to intimidate myself and deter me from pursuing the cases against him with the farmworkers. This is yet another case out of many cases he has opened against his political opponents. True to the character of a farmer, he threatens people and attempts to deal with them harshly,” said Mali.
It was reported earlier this year that several former farmworkers and their relatives had made statements accusing Trollip and his family of mistreating them while they were employed at Mount Prospect farm near Bedford.
Trollip denied all the allegations and the Human Rights Commission said it couldn’t investigate the case as it predated its existence.
Tollip’s lawyer Brin Brody said both the DA and his client had engaged Mali about his involvement in the securing of the “so-called affidavits” (farmworkers’ affidavits) when he was a member of the DA.
“He constantly denied any involvement in this regard, yet now constantly makes reference to these so-called allegations,” said Brody.
Trollip is also suing Nelson Mandela Bay ANC councillor Lawrence Troon for R5-million for alleged defamation. The case will be heard in February next year.
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