{"id":51013,"date":"2023-07-04T23:06:40","date_gmt":"2023-07-04T23:06:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/motifiles-moti-group-to-consider-legal-options-after-high-court-win-for-amabhungane"},"modified":"2023-07-05T00:14:36","modified_gmt":"2023-07-05T00:14:36","slug":"motifiles-moti-group-to-consider-legal-options-after-high-court-win-for-amabhungane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/motifiles-moti-group-to-consider-legal-options-after-high-court-win-for-amabhungane","title":{"rendered":"#MotiFiles: Moti Group to consider legal options after High Court win for amaBhungane"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>The Moti Group says it is weighing up its legal options, including approaching the Constitutional Court, following a High Court order on Monday which overturned the gag order it obtained against amaBhungane.<\/p>\n

Businessman Zunaid Moti and the Moti Group are involved in a legal scuffle with investigative journalism unit amaBhungane over leaked documents the publication received from a source.<\/p>\n

AmaBhungane had published a number of articles as part of its Moti Files series.<\/p>\n

In June, the Moti Group obtained a gag order against amaBhungane, ex parte, meaning the publication did not know about the case, and the order was issued without it being afforded a chance to oppose it.<\/p>\n

In addition to the gag order prohibiting publishing articles about the files, amaBhungane was ordered to return the trove of documents to the group.<\/p>\n

The publication then challenged the ex parte application.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Gauteng High Court Deputy Judge President Judge Roland Sutherland delivered judgment and overturned the order the group had obtained.<\/p>\n

He also awarded costs to amaBhungane and its journalists.<\/p>\n

The group said although the order was in favour of amaBhungane, it was the first round of an ongoing legal process.<\/p>\n

It added it had studied the judgment and believed a factual finding was not made on amaBhungane’s possession of documents it said were stolen.<\/p>\n

The group said it was considering its legal options, including an approach to the Constitutional Court, as it viewed the case as one relating to the constitutional right to privacy.<\/p>\n

The group’s CEO, Dondo Mogajane said in a statement:<\/p>\n

“There is no hierarchy of rights under the Constitution, and while I sincerely appreciate and support the freedom of the press, I do not believe that this can come at the expense of any person or entity’s constitutional right to privacy.<\/p>\n

“The facts of our specific case are unique, and we strongly believe that the legal issues at play deserve further consideration out of a matter of principle.”<\/p>\n

The group said a criminal case was still pending regarding the theft of the documents, adding it would offer its full cooperation to the police where required.<\/p>\n

It added the ex parte application was launched in response to amaBhungane’s confirmation its journalists did not have the stolen documents, only then to attach the stolen documents to its articles.<\/p>\n

This resulted in the High Court granting the interdict against amaBhungane.<\/p>\n

The group maintained it was taking the issue of reputational damage seriously and was determined not to allow amaBhungane’s journalists to abuse their position as press to advance a specific narrative.<\/p>\n

It said it had also filed a complaint with the Press Ombudsman and vowed to pursue other legal avenues.<\/p>\n

Sutherland’s judgment included strong comments about “contraband” in the hands of journalists being a positive and necessary good for society.<\/p>\n

He was also scathing about the issuing of the ex parte application.<\/p>\n

AmaBhungane hailed the judgment, saying it was a vindication of investigative journalism.<\/p>\n

It said it would need to “bolster its financial resources” to resist the group’s “onslaught”.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. The Moti Group says it is weighing up its legal options, including approaching the Constitutional Court, following a High Court order on Monday which overturned the gag order it obtained against amaBhungane. Businessman Zunaid Moti and the Moti Group are involved in a legal scuffle with investigative journalism unit amaBhungane over leaked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":51011,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[274,315,1831,2372,309,310,743,4487,275],"class_list":["post-51013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-amabhungane","tag-crime-and-courts","tag-gauteng","tag-johannesburg","tag-media","tag-moti-group","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\n#MotiFiles: Moti Group to consider legal options after High Court win for amaBhungane - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Moti Group says it is weighing up its legal options, including approaching the Constitutional Court, following a Hig 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