Hanekom welcomes defamation ruling, but Zuma yet to remove 'enemy agent' tweet
8 November 2019
Former tourism minister and ANC stalwart Derek Hanekom has welcomed the ruling of Judge Dhaya Pillay against former president Jacob Zuma's leave to appeal her ruling that his statement - that Hanekom was a "known enemy agent" - was defamatory.
Zuma's bid for leave to appeal the court judgment was dismissed on Thursday, News24 reported. "In the opinion of this court an appeal of judgment would have no reasonable prospects of success before another court," Judge Pillay said in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg.
The application was dismissed with costs.
Judge Pillay said that, at its core, the case was about determining the interpretation of Zuma's tweet.