# Social Category > General Chat Forum >  Suing the media a lucrative side line for Jacob Zuma?

## Dave A

I don't have much idea how Jacob Zuma makes his money nowadays. But suing the media certainly seems to be emerging as one of his income streams.



> African National Congress president Jacob Zuma is claiming R5-million from Rapport for defamation and crimen injuria, his spokesperson Liesl Gottert said on Thursday. 
> 
> This latest claim comes just a day after he reached a R50 000 out-of-court settlement with the same paper for a previous defamation and crimen injuria claim.
> 
> On Thursday, Zuma said: "Freedom of speech is one of the cornerstones in our democracy. As an ordinary South African I have the right to take someone to task if I believe his comment about me was unfair and unbalanced."
> 
> In 2006, Zuma lodged defamation claims against the media to the sum of R63-million. He is suing media owners, publishers, editors, reporters, cartoonists and newspapers. One of the claims against a newspaper concerns "layout foul play". 
> 
> Broadcaster 94.7 Highveld Stereo is being sued for R7-million for broadcasting a song called My Name Is Zuma, commenting on the Zuma rape trial. It was played by Darren "Whackhead" Simpson, a member of the radio station's Rude Awakening team. 
> ...

----------


## Dave A

I see Jacob Zuma has reduced his claims against the media.



> A host of defamation claims lodged by the African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma against several publications were on Friday slashed to "approximately R12-million", a spokesperson for Zuma said.
> 
> Liesl GÃÂ¶ttert said: "Mr Jacob Zuma will instruct his media legal team today [Friday] to drop the defamation component of all media claims that he instituted against some media prior to the 52nd ANC conference in Polokwane last year with respect to news, articles, cartoons and opinions that were published prior to the conference.
> 
> "Mr Zuma will, however, proceed with claims that relate to the injury of his dignity in these matters." 
> 
> This would amount to "approximately R12-million".
> 
> The claims had been structured in such a way that Zuma claimed for personal injury and for damage to his public image.
> ...


Much of the recent headlines on JZ have been around his "charm offensive." Maybe this is the start of a charm offensive on the media.

----------


## duncan drennan

> It was important for me to make the relevant media understand that there are rules that have to be played by, even if it concerns politicians.


This (and other things he has said) are very disturbing. The public along with the media are going to have to keep a keen eye on freedom of expression.

----------


## Chatmaster

He is definitely a loose canon. In a way I think that is why the ANC wanted to elect him so badly. They hope he will make a big change. Well he did already by disbanding the Scoprions. We all know why the ANC did this but for some reason there is no huge outcry about it!

----------


## Dave A

There has been something of an outcry about disbanding the Scorpions. It just seems ineffectual.

Until the ANC has meaningful opposition at the ballot box, they can do what they like with impunity.

----------


## Chatmaster

For as long as the ANC keep on reminding the nation about the past and the nation believes them there is no way that the scenario will change. Instead of attacking the ANC around every corner, a counter strategy of pointing out to the nation that the past is behind us will be much more effective I think. Pointing out every error they make in the way the opposition is doing it atm is simply making them stronger.

----------


## Dave A

The DA is trying to kick up some dust about disbanding the Scorpions.



> The Scorpions are the country's last effective corruption-busting unit and disbanding them will affect the fight against organised crime, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said in Cape Town on Tuesday.
> 
> "Every time special units were integrated [into the police] it has impacted on the ability to fight crime in that area," said party spokesperson on justice Tertius Delport. 
> 
> The DA was making its case for why the Scorpions should maintain their independence from the police.
> 
> He cited the old South African Railway Police, the family violence, child protection and sexual offences units and anti-poaching unit Operation Neptune as examples. 
> 
> "The whole culture in the police is contrary to what we need to investigate high-level crime," he said.
> ...


Perhaps the Scorpions are a victim of their own success  :Whistling:

----------


## Chatmaster

I have a very strong feeling this case will end up in the constitutional court. Personally, this to me borders an admission of guilt on JZ side. Why would you disband a successful unit if you didn't fear them?

----------


## duncan drennan

> Perhaps the Scorpions are a victim of their own success


Is there anything that we (as individuals and a group) can do to help oppose the  disbanding?

----------


## Chatmaster

As I understand some legal experts are of the opinion that it is unconstitutional for the ruling party to disband them. Others again disagree on this.

----------


## RKS Computer Solutions

> It was currently pursuing a corruption case against African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma.


Something tells me that 1 + 1 = 2, anyone care to offer a different opinion?

----------


## Dave A

Well (laughs) perhaps we need to look up the definition of 1...

----------


## RKS Computer Solutions

ok

***THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL ONSLAUGHT AND IS MERELY MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS.  THEY MIGHT BE INCORRECT AND THUS I HEREBY ACCEPT NO RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS ANY CLAIM WHATSOEVER IN REGARDS TO THIS POST***

*The Scorpions*, the only effective corruption unit in SA, has been trying to get to JZ for a long time.  The Scorpions don't play around with cases where they don't believe they have a decent case against a corporation and/or person.

*JZ*, becomes the president of the ANC, dropping law suites left and right because he now has the power to change things from goverment side, being the ANC head chief and all.

JZ also has been canvasing the courts to drag out his case with the Scorpions for as long as possible, maybe knowing that if he could get to where he wanted to be, that he could resolve it from the inside.

As soon as JZ becomes ANC president, word starts trickling down that the Scorpions needs to be disbanded and all authority taken away from them.

The Scorpions chief, in the heat of battle of the JZ case, get's arrested like the uber drug-lord that his oponents see him as, with 20 armed police officers in tow to make sure that his wife and kids don't kick the crap out of them.

Under heavy media scrutiny, the Scorpions chief is dragged to an unnamed location, charged with BS charges, and then let go, the courts deciding that they have p!ssed about long enough and can't keep him any longer.

O, and his powers to investigate anything pertaining to a certain JZ case is taken away, just in case he tries to do this country any good.  Now that would be a shame.

I haven't counted, but would anyone care to count the number of days between JZ becoming ANC president and the Scorpions being dealt their final blow?

Although some parties have kicked up dust about the disbanding, the ruling party, of wich JZ is the president, couldn't give a crap about what their opponents say, because in order to keep certain information out of the media, one has to make some sacrifices.

That sacrifice just needs to be the only true Anti-Corruption unit of SA, but hey, we'll worry about crime and corruption later, someone just needs to keep their butts out of jail long enough to go run a country.

So, do we now have an understanding of the math? Let's break it down.

Scorpions case agains JZ + JZ becoming head of ruling party = Taking the sting out of the scorpions.

***THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL ONSLAUGHT AND IS MERELY MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS.  THEY MIGHT BE INCORRECT AND THUS I HEREBY ACCEPT NO RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS ANY CLAIM WHATSOEVER IN REGARDS TO THIS POST***

----------


## Chatmaster

> ok
> 
> ***THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL ONSLAUGHT AND IS MERELY MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS.  THEY MIGHT BE INCORRECT AND THUS I HEREBY ACCEPT NO RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS ANY CLAIM WHATSOEVER IN REGARDS TO THIS POST***


You afraid he might take you to court as well?  :Whistling: 

Seriously, this morning it came to light that he handed in a sworn affidavit that Thabo and team has a politcal onslaught against him and that is probably what the rest of his ANC supporters believe.

I agree with you Riaan. If you look at his actions throughout the time since the corruption charges first came to light AND the fact that Shabir Shaik was found guilty, he is in mind acting like a guilty criminal. Everything he does is exactly how a criminal would behave... make me think of thee mob movies...

I have no disclaimer and fortunately the forum has its own, I will wait for justice to take its course though, he will not be able to stop it from taking place imo, even if he disbands the scorpions, this will not go away.

----------


## RKS Computer Solutions

I agree, it won't go away, but the timing of things hampered the ivestigation and the implications of the disbandenment of the Scorpions means a delay in justice.

----------


## Dave A

> Seriously, this morning it came to light that he handed in a sworn affidavit that Thabo and team has a politcal onslaught against him


Depending on when he made that affadavit, he might be right.

The whole Polokwane affair was more than enough evidence that Thabo did not want JZ to be State President - and that has quite likely been true for a little while now. However, I'd guess that only became a conscious decision quite some time after the worms started crawling out of the can. After all, Thabo has also been noted for his stubborn loyalty in the face of some pretty damning evidence too.

----------


## Dave A

Here we go again!



> African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma is suing Jonathan Shapiro, the Sunday Times and its holding company for R7-million over a controversial cartoon published earlier this year, the Times reported on Thursday. 
> 
> In the cartoon, Shapiro, who uses the pen name Zapiro, portrayed Zuma unbuckling his belt as he prepares to rape the figurative Lady Justice. 
> 
> She is held down by Zuma allies Julius Malema, Gwede Mantashe, Blade Nzimande and Zwelinzima Vavi.
> 
> Mantashe eggs Zuma on: "Go for it, boss!"
> 
> While Zuma's allies claimed the cartoon was intended to project the ANC president as a rapist -- even though Zuma was acquitted of rape in 2006 -- Shapiro said the central meaning of the cartoon was "incredibly clear". 
> ...

----------


## Dave A

And again...



> African National Congress (ANC) leader Jacob Zuma is suing the Guardian for defamation over an article published last month that described his leadership style as "morally contaminated". 
> 
> He is demanding an apology and damages from the respected British daily, his legal representatives in London, Schillings Laywers, said in a statement on Monday.
> 
> It did not specify the sum Zuma is seeking over the article by Simon Jenkins, which ran under the headline "Get used to a corrupt and chaotic South Africa. But don't write it off."
> 
> Shillings Lawyers said the article has been removed from the Guardian's website.
> 
> It had warned that those "dealing with South Africa must probably get used to Zuma's style of government -- morally contaminated, administratively chaotic and corrupt", and quoted an unnamed friend of the author describing Zuma as "a criminal and a rapist".
> full story from M&G here

----------


## twinscythe12332

he has learnt something new, and is doing it over and over again. as luck has it, it seems at least a few people are fighting back and saying they won't go quietly.

----------


## insulin

RKS Computer Solutions > First of shame one you!  :Stick Out Tongue:  Everyone knows that 1+1=3 see the math is; 1 is less then 2 Thus 1.4 is still 1... now you have 1.4 + 1.4 = 2.8 rounded of 2.8 is 3 how cool is that! 

Anyway JZ is out on a witch-hunt and is getting paid for it. I find his actions might even cripple our media system and one cannot help but wonder if that is not the intention? Now I fear that we might be seeing government controlled media soon. Zimbabwe style control even. Let us not forget that JZ himself said couple of things that can be considered distasteful in the publicâs eye. Perhaps his speeches must be re printed by the Media to refresh the countryâs memory???  :Whistling:

----------


## IanF

Guys
Lets say JZ is right. He was found not guilty on the rape charge yet the "media" call him a rapist. His fraud and corruption charges have been dropped so he can not be said to be a fraudster. The circumstances surrounding this is what should be questioned. When he was asked about the money he got from Shaik after being pushed he said it was a loan.

Now JZ comes out smelling like roses except for his admission to a "loan" from Shaik. He is right to defend himself being called a rapist and fraudster or bribee as this has not yet been proven in court. There are no charges outstanding against him.

What needs to be questioned is his forked tongue saying he wants his day in court then doing the opposite delaying this until what looks like a "political deal" is done to get him off. What I admire is the way to get himself cleared he toppled a sitting President. That is determination, and we need lots of that in this country. 

My thoughts are JZ will be a better president than Mbeki and I hope he listens to reason and not ideology as we need a very pragmatic approach now to sort out our problems. Will I vote for him? No we need a strong opposition as a check and balance.

----------


## garthu

Wow Ian, interesting view point and with credit - defending himself is a must for his position and credibility and correctly so in the rape issue.

However (now then couldn't let it go that easy  :Big Grin: ), its exactly the comments like "let me have my day in court". From all heard, there is little doubt that the day in court had to be avoided at pretty much all costs.. Now thats the bit that worries me... at all costs. I have no doubt that if any one of use were to really get in his way as president, it wouldn't be much to be "wiped" out for them. Mbeki may not have been as strong, but i think in words only (sure thats a huge debate), JZ is stronger in what he is prepared to do to get there and stay - anything  - kind of like another leader in the region, Bob??

I think in ethics, Mbeki would have been a better person (he stepped down when told to, Bob/JZ wouldn't have, they just change the law), I really don't think JZ has any ethics or moral and this is a man that would frighten me as a leader. He distinctly reminds me of Bob  :Sorry:

----------


## Dave A

> Anyway JZ is out on a witch-hunt and is getting paid for it. I find his actions might even cripple our media system and one cannot help but wonder if that is not the intention? Now I fear that we might be seeing government controlled media soon. Zimbabwe style control even.


If you really want to get nervous, a free media might be the least of our concerns. How about if we lose our constitutional democracy?

----------


## IanF

Garth
I just wonder what we miss about JZ that his followers see. Mbeki did try at one stage to change the constitution to a 3 term maximum. In the end he stepped down as the ANC was not supporting him. I just could not fathom his thinking on AIDS, Electricity and Zimbabwe, he came across to me an intellectual bully who took more from browbeating someone rather than using a rational argument. JZ seems to listen but on whose advice he actually acts on is the key mystery. 

I hope he isn't going to say one thing and do the other like saying he wants his day in court. I just feel he will be easier to read and will push through change, just hope it is for the development of the country rather than the black BEE elite.

My daughter has a friend at Wits trying to study medicine and she couldn't get in. But a coloured guy with lower marks than her from the same school got in. She then found out that the policy is colour trumps aptitude. It has got so that Indians are treated the same way as whites for this now. The point is these stupid policies being blindly enforced are going to cause us to become just another African country. JZ does seem to listen to concerns like this so to me the key will be what he does. It looks like he will be more pragmatic but time will tell. 

Whether he becomes another mad bob I hope not. My take it looks like the people will choose him lets look for the positive from this. :Cool:

----------


## garthu

Hmmm.. hear you and agree. There are people that see something in him ( i havnt understood what yet). Quite right on the Mbeki side as well, trying to change the constitution, bad move amongst others ( as ex zim, i never appreciated how that all went down).

Then again suddenly what leaps in to mind is could he predict the next leader and decided 3 terms were better than the new leader??? Not opinion there, just a thought..

One great thing about politics, it cannot bore the mind when you start thinking and seeing opinion... it can get really deep, confusing, creative.. challenges the mind... but its about all i enjoy about it  :Smile:

----------


## garthu

But now you see, having read Daves link to our democracy, that really scares me. Theres just nothing good to be said there and it's not just about a "likeable" person, it's that there are a huge amount of people that are very afraid of the power that is going to be yielded by a man that makes statements that he does!

like your opinion Ian (its got ground), but just cant go with it.. (personal opinion only)

----------


## insulin

I donât know... The fact is innocent till proven guilty. However one must take into consideration how his  innocence was proclaimed.  :Confused:

----------


## IanF

OK 
Now I am worried Dave Bullard almost agrees with me. *Moneyweb article*. His complete flip flop on this is amazing, but if he was writing articles and opinions without checking the facts properly that explains the about turn. :EEK!:

----------


## twinscythe12332

I honestly don't care who gets into the presidency, as long as I am free to live my life, and the country is bettered. an example of a complete f**k up is the road names being changed. it has cost millions, quite possibly gone into billions to change the names of roads for no reason. if there was a road with a racist term on it, I may understand then, but this isn't helping the country MOVE FORWARD, this is bringing it back to the past. 
when a leg breaks, there is only so long you can go around crying about how sore it is before people start calling your bull. the same goes with the "inequalities of our past." 
from 1994 to now is 15 years. in that time, that's my primary school, high school and tertiary education as well as me starting to work. The gap has closed for those who have made the effort. The rest cry about their "broken leg" and carry on. 

if JZ is going to change the country FOR THE BETTER, I don't really care about the charges against him. if he isn't... it's not new.


yoh! the comments on that article are hectic.

----------


## insulin

That is what you get when you predicate based only on conjecture. See JZ is a victim we must give him that. However nothing happens without a reason. Perhaps all of this was a clever plot do discredit a politician and rob him from his presidency. 

My question remain; where is the facts? Is what we accept as fact really just public opinion? See innocence till proven guilty specify that prove must come from a reliable source.  :Wink:  Now since everything including the facts disappeared overnight we have to say that JZ was a victim. 

However the timeline itself and the circumstances surrounding JZ, the public must say: If JZ is innocent then give JZ a day in court to prove his innocence so that his credibility remains untarnished, and so that the public can know and see the prove. 

All we see now is that JZ wants to take the media to court. Then Why not go to court with his case in hand and give him the change to represent his innocence. 

But now JZ accepted that charges were dropped against him and he left it at that... Why not go to court and proclaim his innocence? So why didnât he? 

That is the stigma that remains.  :Wink:

----------


## garthu

> yoh! the comments on that article are hectic.


Haha!! I suddenly feel like a passivist! Nice to see we can all have our opinion, respect the opinion and carry on... sounds like a few of those guys are ready to go to war

----------


## Dave A

What I find odd is I've swung the other way on JZ too - but it's in the opposite direction.

After Polokwane, I was going "Yep. JZ probably took the money. But he still could be a much better president than Mbeki." And that was way before all the recent revelations on what Comrade Thabo was actually up to.

There were signs that JZ was not nearly as dogmatic as Mbeki. JZ seemed open to new thoughts and ideas, prepared to consult, prepared to look at issues from outside of his own paradigm.

However, I'm no longer that optimistic. JZ has got off the hook using abuse of power, not just Thabo's abuse but JZ's abuse of power too. We have just witnessed a cynical subversion of the legal machinery in this country that rivals that of the NP in its heyday.

This goes beyond Director Mpshe and his pathetic pandering to the new elite. It goes back to Pikoli, the one NPA boss who had clearly shown that he wasn't very good at taking orders from Luthuli House. Mbeki had Pikoli suspended. JZ saw to it that Pikoli was fired. Inserting a caretaker president to clear the path was a stroke of genius.

When it comes to tampering with the judiciary, at first JZ sent messages in the form of Judge Hlope. But such is his confidence now, JZ wants to "engage" the judges of the Constitutional Court directly.

He is even starting to buy into his party's propaganda.

Up until the recent dropping of the corruption charges, JZ never claimed he was innocent, only that the charges were unfair - something that I could accept as being an honest appraisal of the situation. That day after the charges were dropped, when he announced he was innocent when all tested evidence indicates otherwise - that's when I started feeling we could be in real trouble here.

I'm afraid when it comes to "working the system," JZ makes Mbeki look like an amateur.

----------


## garthu

Sadly i agree. One positive point, proven from the past is we could all be wrong anyway as millions have been in the past. Thabo came, doom and gloom was painted prior, even with Nelson, many painted a nasty picture. Certainly wrong with Nelson, and it could have been far worse with TM. Maybe we wrong

But i doubt it. I know things are getting out of control when i start considering options in Zim again... especially as i often use it as a comparison for the bad and ugly...

----------


## Dave A

It looks like M&G is going to settle over the rapist quote case.



> The Guardian was negotiating a settlement with ANC president Jacob Zuma's lawyers over a comment it says it published by mistake, a spokesperson said on Monday. 
> 
> "The position at the weekend, was that it was a mistake," said David Leigh, investigations editor.
> 
> The action relates to an article by Simon Jenkins setting the scene for Wednesday's elections, headlined "Get used to a corrupt and chaotic South Africa. But don't write it off".
> 
> Jenkins opens with comments about the beauty of Cape Town's scenery, writing: "I could not resist the old Afrikaner clichÃ© that this was God's own country."
> 
> He then follows with a quote from a unnamed companion who calls Zuma a rapist.
> full story from M&G here

----------

