A High Court judge reserved judgment this week in the case of a 63-year-old East London farmer who is suing two Eastern Cape newspapers for defamation.
A High Court judge reserved judgment this week in the case of a 63-year-old East London farmer who is suing two Eastern Cape newspapers for defamation.
Fred Burchell, owner of liquidated Mpongo Game Reserve, is suing The Herald and Daily Dispatch for R350 000 for “biased” reporting which “ruined” his life. The two publications had reported on an assault case against Burchell and his son Barry five years ago. The two were accused of attacking Barry’s estranged wife and her employee.
However, the father and son were acquitted of all charges. Burchell, who represented himself in court, told Grahamstown High Court Judge Irma Schoeman this week that the newspapers’ reports cast serious doubts on his and his son’s acquittal. He said: “People still think I indecently assaulted and committed all these crimes. The newspapers left me in limbo.”
Cross examining Eddie Botha, the journalist who wrote the stories for Dispatch, Burchell said that in all his articles Botha never mentioned that the magistrate had emphatically stated that there was no evidence whatsoever against Burchell. “Why didn’t you tell the Daily Dispatch readers that the magistrate said there was no evidence against [me]?”
Botha had also mentioned the case in his weekly Business Breakfast column and Burchell questioned him about the column’s intention, especially the statement “if you sleep with another man’s wife you get burned”. Botha said he had taken this quote from the magistrate’s judgment. He said he was neither referring to the Burchells in his column nor was he questioning the magistrate’s verdict. Botha said he was only passing his opinion on the judgment.
Burchell also accused Botha of not knowing what he had written in his notes which were submitted to court. He said the notes were “sloppy and leave a lot to be desired”. Burchell denied information in Botha’s notes and articles, including the fact that a warrant of arrest had been issued against him and that his son had spent a night in the cells. He said he did not like the style in which Botha reported on the case.
Advocate Jannie Eksteen, SC, representing the two newspapers, had earlier asked Botha whether he regarded domestic violence as a newsworthy topic. Botha replied “most definitely”.
Judge Schoeman reserved judgment.
