Media mogul and philanthropist Basetsana and her telecommunication guru husband Romeo Kumalo came out victorious in court yesterday after the court ruled in their favour in a five-year legal battle against author Jackie Phamotse.
The court battle was a result of tweets (now X) written by Jackie in 2018 where she shared that she overheard a conversation between a media mogul and her husband begging a friend not to release a video where the husband was involved in a sexual act with a male celebrity.
The tweet read:
“Just overheard a painful conversation, a female TV mogul pleading with one of my girls to not share videos of her drunk and her husband [sic] rimming a celebrity boy!!! What the hell!!!! What kind of marriages do we have now!!! I have asked to see this video.”
Jackie had not said who the TV mogul was in her tweets, resulting in people suggesting it could have been Bassie and Romeo.
The author and social activist has been found guilty on two counts of crimen injuria, one count of defamation and one of contempt of court.
A media statement from the National Prosecuting Authority on the case reads:
“The Randburg Magistrate’s court found Jacqueline Katleho Phamotse guilty on two counts of crimen injuria, one count of defamation and one of contempt of court.”
The statement further reveals that when Jacquie’s followers associated her tweet with the Kumalos, she responded by sharing a laughing emoji and wrote, “I love it.”
“Romeo testified that the tweet was deeply hurtful, it caused enormous irreparable damage to his reputation and that of his business. Basetsana testified in court that the tweet made her feel raw, attacked, violated, and insulted. Basetsana approached the harassment court and was granted a protection order against Phamotse.”
Jacqui “went further with her onslaught on the Kumalos on 22 February 2019, she published a book titled I Tweet what I like so Sue Me in which she violated the protection order against her. On the cover of her book, she referred to case number 507/2018 which relates to her case against Basetsana Kumalo which was intended to injure her reputation. On the book page 105, the accused suggests that the Kumalos have a lot of money and it was given to the magistrate and that the harassment order against her by Basetsana was bought.”
The case is set for sentencing on October 24th, 2023.
The Randburg Magistrates’ Court found Jacqueline Katleho Phamotse guilty on two counts of crimen injuria, one count of defamation and one of contempt of court. pic.twitter.com/TmfmJiYkzo
— NPASouthAfrica (@NPA_Prosecutes) September 19, 2023
Basetsana Khumalo says the last five years have been taxing for her family and she is relieved the matter has been put to bed. @ZimojaL pic.twitter.com/bEdgdlrrNZ
— Zimoja Lezinto (@ZimojaL) September 19, 2023
