The defamation case brought to the High Court by Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane against EFF leader Julius Malema has been dismissed with costs, reports the Daily Dispatch.

The application stems from remarks Malema made outside the KuGompo City Magistrate’s Court in April, when he alleged Mabuyane had ‘stolen’ a Master’s degree from the University of Fort Hare.

When no apology followed, Mabuyane launched urgent court proceedings on 23 April.

Mabuyane wanted the court to declare the allegations false, defamatory and unlawful, and to interdict Malema from making statements alleging that he stole or fraudulently obtained a Master’s degree.

In a judgment – delivered by Judge Igna Stretch in the Eastern Cape High Court (KuGompo City) yesterday – Judge Jannie Eksteen said Mabuyane was required to establish a clear right, an injury actually committed or reasonably apprehended and that he had no alternative remedy.

Eksteen said the application failed.

‘There can be no dispute that every individual enjoys a clear right to be protected against unlawful attacks upon his dignity and reputation. But once the defence of truth and public interest is established, he has no right to be protected against lawful criticism. This is particularly so in the realms of politics. Accordingly, in my view, the interdict, too, cannot succeed,’ Eksteen said.

The EFF has wel­comed the dis­missal of Mabuyane’s defam­a­tion case Malema, reports The Herald.

The EFF described Mabuyane’s applic­a­tion as ill ad­vised. The party said it would con­tinue to demand ‘account­ab­il­ity from Mabuyane and all those implic­ated in wrong­do­ing at the Uni­versity of Fort Hare’.

‘We reit­er­ate our call for the final­isa­tion of all invest­ig­a­tions into the award­ing of qual­i­fic­a­tions at the insti­tu­tion and for decis­ive action against all those found to have abused pub­lic insti­tu­tions for per­sonal advance­ment. The court’s judg­ment goes far bey­ond merely dis­miss­ing Oscar Mabuyane’s applic­a­tion with costs. Judge Eksteen expressly found that while (Julius) Malema’s state­ments were prima facie defam­at­ory, the defence of truth and pub­lic interest had been suc­cess­fully estab­lished.’ It said the judgment is ‘a com­plete vin­dic­a­tion' of Malema’s decision to expose wrong­do­ing at the Uni­versity of Fort Hare and to 'demand account­ab­il­ity from those implic­ated in the manip­u­la­tion of aca­demic pro­cesses for polit­ical advance­ment'.

Full Daily Dispatch report

Full report in The Herald

See also a report in the Cape Times