Independent Media given fortnight to respond to R1.2m ‘GoolamMV’ lawsuit
The Independent Media Group has two weeks to respond to a R1.2 million defamation lawsuit filed against it.
Mohammed Yacoob Vawda, a comedian and UKZN lecturer, says the group wrongfully identified him as the person running an account on the social media platform X that has been critical to Independent Media owner Iqbal Survé.
The media group held a press briefing in Cape Town last week, during which it claimed to have exposed the individual behind the account with the handle 'GoolamMV'.
Vawda subsequently recorded a video saying he had nothing to do with the account.
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He said he had received death threats over the accusations.
The media group later made a public apology, saying it had erroneously released the wrong photo and profile.
Viasen Soobramoney, CEO of IOL, also vowed to take concrete steps to prevent the error from happening again.
"Our client didn't see his kids the whole of last week because when the story broke, he had to move his family to a safe house. That’s how serious it is,” countered Vawda’s lawyer, Rupert Candy.
“It is a blatant and reckless act of disinformation.
“They state that he works for the SABC and the UKZN and is a stand-up comic. He's not been on X since 2017. That was seven years ago. He is on Instagram,” Candy added.
Candy said they are suing because they believe Independent Media’s apology is not enough.
“Our client is still not happy, and we, therefore, decided to issue summons on Friday. We will now be focusing this week on taking the matters further on behalf of the client, and we will be laying criminal charges against all these individuals, and we will also be referring the matter to the Press Council."
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