SOUTH AFRICA – Zimbabwean businessman Isaac Chalumbira is suing self proclaimed South African sushi king Kenny Kunene for R2,5million, claiming he had defamed his character when he labelled him a criminal during an interview on TV last year.
Kunene, who is the Patriotic Alliance (PA) deputy president, accused Chalumbira of running an illegal cross-border bus rank at Johannesburg’s Park Street in an interview with Newzroom Afrika.
“So the Zimbabwean government is telling us in South Africa that the bus rank they recognise is Powerhouse, which is owned by a Zimbabwean; now the City of Johannesburg only recognises a bus rank called Fleet Africa.
“Those are the buses recognised to accommodate or operate buses from SADC and throughout the continent.… now the Zimbabwean has opened his own bus rank, which is supposed to be a parking, private parking area. He has burned it into a bus operating rank, that is illegal.”
Subsequently, Kunene refused to engage Chalumbira on the matter, arguing that the law should take its course.
“I am not going to waste my time with negotiations, the law is the law, it’s very clear. The Zimbabwean government was supposed to have interacted with the City of Johannesburg and established which ranks, bus ranks, are recognised as legal.
“They did not do that, they just took the word of their own citizen who is here in South Africa, making money in South Africa, illegally operating an illegal bus rank.”
In his court filing, Chalumbira claims this public defamation has caused him substantial financial and reputational harm.
“As a result of the publication of these statements, I had my name and reputation injured and suffered damages amounting to R2.5 million,” read the claim.
Kunene is no stranger to making controversial remarks.
Only last week he came under fire from political parties, including the Economic Freedom Fighters, for airing his sentiments on the same channel, where he was heard saying that illegal miners in Stilfontein, North West, must die like rats.
This was on the backdrop of mining rescue operations led by the Mine Rescue Services; the mission was launched after a high court ruling last month that ordered the state to extract illegal miners from the disused mine.
