Deputy police commissioner's interdict against whistle-blower overturned

DEPUTY National Police Commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya’s interim interdict barring former high-ranking police member Patricia Morgan-Mashale from publishing defamatory statements on social media, accusing him of corruption, has been overturned.

- ZELDA VENTER

Sibiya turned to the Bloemfontein High Court for a final interdict after he had obtained the interim interdict against Morgan-Mashale in November last year.

Morgan-Mashale defended her actions by stating that her posts regarding Sibiya were the truth, in the public interest, and what she had said about him was, in any event, already public knowledge.

The court, in discharging the interim interdict against her, said Sibiya has failed to disprove these defences conclusively. The court said he has an alternative remedy, as he can file a summons against her for damages and then prove defamation.

Morgan-Mashale, who describes herself as a whistle-blower, said she is presently staying in undisclosed premises. She was previously employed as an administrative clerk in the SAPS, but was dismissed.