Businessman and philanthropist Collen Mashawana’s urgent bid to halt Daily Maverick from reporting on him, and the Independent Development Trust (IDT), Tebogo Malaka was struck from the roll.
The matter played out in the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
Gag order
Mashawana hit the Daily Maverick and journalist Pieter Louis Myburgh with a gag order, restraining the reporter from further reporting about him after a nearly year-long probe into allegations of corruption, misuse of public funds, and exploitation of vulnerable workers.
He also wanted the publication to remove stories that were published about him this month.
Mashawana, through his Collen Mashawana Foundation, allegedly made at least two payments toward Malaka’s R16 million luxurious Waterfall mansion, while benefiting from a R60 million Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) tender through the IDT, according to Daily Maverick.
Collen Mashawana
Affidavit
His lawyers, in papers filed on 21 August, argued that if Myburgh was allowed to discuss his recent investigative work at Daily Maverick’s The Gathering conference, it would amount to a “public shaming” of Mashawana.
Acting Judge Alex Pullinger struck off the application from the roll.
“The applicant is to pay the respondent’s costs on a scale of an attorney and a client. Reasons will be provided in due cause.”
Judicial process
In a statement, Collen Mashawana Foundation acknowledged the ruling and respected the court’s authority and the judicial process.
“At this time, the court has not explained the reasons for striking the matter from the roll. The foundation and Dr. Mashawana will be urgently requesting the reasons for judgment, as no explanation was provided during the proceedings.
“It is important to note that at no point did the court make a finding that the claims against Dr Mashawana were correct. These allegations remain unproven, and we continue to believe that responsible reporting must be guided by fact and not speculation,” the foundation said.
The foundation reiterated that the case was not a “fight against media freedom, but against irresponsible journalism that misrepresents facts and damages reputations without proof”.
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