KNYSNA NEWS - Knysna Municipal Manager Lulamile Mapholoba has threatened Knysna Independent Movement (Kim) Councillor Susan Campbell with a defamation action over an in-committee item on 7 November that called for an investigation into him for alleged financial misconduct.
In a letter written on 14 November, Mapholoba's lawyers, Kaplan Bloomberg and Sohn, gave Campbell 24 hours to remove a FB post by Kim headlined: "Financial Misconduct Investigation blocked by DA's Sabbagh Faction & COC".
The letter said Campbell should tender "a written apology to our client for the reputational harm he has sustained because of your intentional, unlawful and wilful actions and to undertake in writing to desist from any further publications of and concerning our client".
Interdict threat
Should this not be done, Mapholoba would seek an urgent interdict in the High Court."Your response to this communication will assist our client in determining the extent of his damages in the action he will be launching against you for defamation," said the letter.
In response, Kim issued a statement of clarification on its FB page on 16 November. "We have received a complaint from attorneys acting for the Municipal Manager, Dr Mapholoba, that our previous post is defamatory of him and damaging to his reputation.
"Our post was not intended to convey the impression that it has been determined that Dr Mapholoba has committed financial misconduct. We wish to emphasise that the allegations against the MM have not been tested and therefore remain allegations and nothing more," the clarification message read.
Disciplinary board
Kim however said that it maintains its view that the allegations should have been referred to the disciplinary board for a preliminary investigation to determine whether the allegations are founded, and to make a recommendation to the council as to whether sufficient grounds exist to warrant a full investigation.
"As we stated in our previous post, this did not happen, because the majority of council voted against it," said the statement from Kim.
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