Deputy Minister of Agriculture Bheki Cele has paid the legal fees he owed Sowetan.
Cele's lawyers transferred the R372951.13 to Times Media Group (TMG) attorneys, Webber Wentzel, on Friday.
Last week Thursday, Sowetan reported that an attachment order for Cele's movable property was issued by the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg after he had failed to pay up.
The former national police commissioner owed TMG the legal fees after he lost his defamation lawsuit against Sowetan. He had sued the newspaper for R200000.
Cele had complained about the publication of a digitally altered image of himself carrying a rifle which Sowetan published in 2007.
When the photo was published, he was KwaZulu-Natal community safety MEC and it was accompanied by articles attributing the phrase "shoot to kill" to Cele.
Cele had argued that the image defamed him and infringed on his dignity because that was not how he would normally present himself. He also argued that the gun in the picture was not the type he carried. But the high court ruled that a reasonable person would understand the altered image in the context of statements made in the articles - that he was taking a no-nonsense stance on violent crime. His application for leave to appeal was dismissed by the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court, with costs.
Bheki Cele finally pays legal fees
Deputy Minister of Agriculture Bheki Cele has paid the legal fees he owed Sowetan.
Cele's lawyers transferred the R372951.13 to Times Media Group (TMG) attorneys, Webber Wentzel, on Friday.
Last week Thursday, Sowetan reported that an attachment order for Cele's movable property was issued by the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg after he had failed to pay up.
The former national police commissioner owed TMG the legal fees after he lost his defamation lawsuit against Sowetan. He had sued the newspaper for R200000.
Cele had complained about the publication of a digitally altered image of himself carrying a rifle which Sowetan published in 2007.
When the photo was published, he was KwaZulu-Natal community safety MEC and it was accompanied by articles attributing the phrase "shoot to kill" to Cele.
Cele had argued that the image defamed him and infringed on his dignity because that was not how he would normally present himself. He also argued that the gun in the picture was not the type he carried. But the high court ruled that a reasonable person would understand the altered image in the context of statements made in the articles - that he was taking a no-nonsense stance on violent crime. His application for leave to appeal was dismissed by the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court, with costs.
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