By Sihle Mavuso
The legal battle between Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi, the Zulu King’s traditional prime minister, and KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane, is hotting up.
On Monday, Buthelezi, who is also the IFP mayor of Zululand municipality, served a summons on Simelane.
Buthelezi wants the MEC, who is also the ANC’s deputy chairperson in the province, to pay him R10-million in damages.
This was after Simelane was recorded making defamatory allegations about him in a video that was widely circulated on social media.
Simelane made the comments while addressing an ANC rally in Vryheid in northern KwaZulu-Natal last month.
Buthelezi denied the allegations and then demanded through his lawyers that she retract and apologise for the statement.
He warned her that failure to do so would carry a penalty of R10-million. Simelane ignored the demand and Buthelezi is now suing her.
“The statement made by the defendant [Simelane] was done so to defame the plaintiff [Buthelezi] and injure his reputation.
“The statement was understood by the addressees and was intended by the defendant to be that the plaintiff is a philanderer; is a sexual deviant; engages in corrupt activities for sexual gain; abuses his political position for personal and sexual gain; is immoral; is generally dishonest and of a corrupt and compromised character [and] is impotent of moral character,” read part of the summons.
The summons held that apart from being defamatory, Simelane’s statements carry the additional sting that Buthelezi is without moral fibre.
Simelane has yet to file her responding papers.
Pictured above: Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi, who is suing MEC Nomagugu Simelane for R10-million.
Image source: Facebook
