The KwaZulu-Natal High Court has ordered former president Jacob Zuma to apologise to fellow ANC member Derek Hanekom for calling him a “known enemy agent” in a tweet on July 25.
The court also ordered Zuma to remove the tweet and to publicly apologise to Hanekom on Twitter.
Shortly after it was revealed that Hanekom had met with opposition parties to discuss a motion to remove Zuma last year, the former president tweeted that he wasn’t surprised, saying that Hanekom was a known enemy agent.
Judge Dhaya Pillay found Zuma’s tweet on Hanekom to be be unlawful.
“The respondent is ordered to remove the tweet within 24 hours from all media platforms, including by deleting it from his Twitter account,” she said.
Pillay ordered Zuma to publish on his Twitter account within 24 hours, the following apology: “On 25 July 2019, I published a tweet which alleges that Derek Hanekom is a known enemy agent. I unconditionally withdraw this allegation and apologise for making it as it is false.”
Pillay awarded costs to Hanekom, but the amount is yet to be determined.
Additional reporting by EWN.
