Zimpapers contests musician’s $10 000 defamation award

HARARE – The Supreme Court has removed from the roll the Zimbabwe Newspapers 1980 Limited, publishers of The Sunday Mail, appeal against the High Court decision to award musician Tererai Mugwadi $10 000 for defamation damages arising from an article which allegedly tarnished her image.

Mugwadi, is one of the most talented Zimbabwean artistes and one of the pioneers of the Urban Grooves genre. She rose to fame in the 2000s with her hit “Waenda”.

The Sunday Mail reported in July 2011 that Mugwadi’s friends wanted her “checked into a rehabilitation centre following her alleged wayward behaviour that exhibited signs and symptoms of alcoholism and drug addiction”.

The Sunday Mail reporter Mtandazo Dube, who penned the article was sued along with Urban Grooves Association chairman Eddie Dhliwayo and the publishing company.

The appeal was set for hearing yesterday, but Zimpapers lawyer Advocate Sylvester Hashiti, applied to have the appeal removed from the roll for him to file a proper appeal.

The three-judge panel of the superior court agreed and struck the appeal off the roll. The notice of appeal that had been filed by the instructing attorneys, was defective in that it stated that the High Court judgment was handed down on July 26 2014 when in fact it was delivered on July 18 the same year.

In its appeal, Zimpapers want the $10 000 damages given to the Waenda hit maker, reduced to $2 000.

The courts have ruled in Zimbabwe that an award of damages for defamation is intended to provide vindication and consolation, not to provide plaintiff with a financial windfall. Awards in Zimbabwe will generally not equate with those in larger and wealthier economies.

But Justice Priscillah Chigumba who dealt with the case in the High Court ruled in favour of Mugwadi saying the $10 000 award was justified.

She arrived at her decision after taking into account among other things the effect social media platforms have had on the “extent and speed of publication”.

The judge also considered the country’s obligations in terms of international and regional protocols and conventions, as well as the provisions of the new Constitution that seek to protect the right to non discrimination on the basis of sex and gender, and gender stereotypes, as well as the fact that Zimbabwe adopted a multi-currency regime.