Wingate-Pearse vs. Daily Maverick

SUMMARY

The headline to the story in dispute read, SARS WARS: Moyane/Gordhan cold war to reach breaking point in 2017 (published on 12 January 2017).

This ruling by the Chair of the Appeals Panel Judge Bernard Ngoepe was based on the Press Code that was in effect before 30 September 2022.

The article was about the “frigid” relationship between SARS Commissioner Tom Moyane and the Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan. “Meanwhile, alleged Cape underworld figure Mark Lifman, who is challenging an almost R400-million tax bill using the ‘rogue unit defence’, will be back in court later this month. However, Lifman’s defence could backfire and inadvertently expose Moyane’s original ‘rogue unit’ allegation as a scam,” the story went.

The sentence in dispute read, “This has become known as the ‘rogue unit defence’ and it is one that has been used in another case by tax offender, suspected drug smuggler and Carnilinx tobacco shareholder, Martin Wingate-Pearse, who coughed up millions in penalties after a 2005 SARS probe.”                                       

Wingate-Pearse complained that these statements were false and unfair; that he had not been given a right of reply to those unsubstantiated and defamatory statements; and that the reportage had unnecessarily damaged his dignity and reputation.

The Adjudication Panel upheld the complaint and directed Daily Maverick to apologise to Wingate-Pearse for various statements – upon which the newspaper applied for leave to appeal.

Judge Ngoepe said the matter was quite simple – did the newspaper correctly quote Molefe?

Dismissing the application, he opined, “The answer must be in the negative.”

THE RULING ITSELF IS CURRENTLY NOT AVAILABLE