“[56]

It was submitted by Mr Flynn that in the event the Court was to
find the Defendants liable to the Plaintiff it should order that she
be compensated through the payment of nominal damages
considering that the allegations merely emphasized what was
already known and secondly in view of the Plaintiff having
allegedly claimed excessive damages. According to Mr Flynn,
damages in defamation matters should not exceed E50,000.00 as
he said was stated in The Times of Swaziland and Other vs Albert
Heshange Shabangu Appeal Case No. 30/2006. Whatever the facts
in the said matter, it cannot be true that it was setting a rule
oparticularly where it is clear the publication was malicious and a
result of the Defendants having taken sides in an existing dispute.
Furtherstill I am convinced that cannot be the case where it
becomes clear that the Defendants, because of their financial
standing calculated the pros and cons of publishing the article
based on what they considered to be extent of their risk. There
should not be a doubt that the damages should be meaningful with
the victims and potential victims being assured of their rights to
dignity and reputation being protected as well. Certainly if this
has not been the case, perhaps the time has come for the media to
have greater responsibilities in their publication.

[57]

I do not agree, firstly that the matter of the Plaintiff allegedly
being a Mahlangu, was already a matter in the public domain as
alleged. In fact that is against the contents of the publication
themselves where the Defendants stated that the contents of their
publication or their revelation was going to shock the nation which
had always known the Plaintiff to be a Simelane and further that
their “revelation “ as they chose to call it was going to turn the
fortunes of one of the iron ladies in Swaziland, in the Plaintiff, for
the worst. Clearly all these paraphrases are not consistent with a
matter that was already in the public domain. It shall be
remembered that they also stated in a follow-up article that their
revelation or publication had had the impact of forcing the
Simelanes to bring about changes within their area as they
removed Gelane from the Acting position. In fact this comment of
theirs encapsuled the very purpose of the Defendant’s article.

[58]

The evidence of Mahlangu Simelane to the effect they had always
known Gelane to be a Mahlangu as opposed to a Simelane, is not
only improbable but is devoid of truth. It is unfathomable that if
they, as the Simelane’s had always known her to be a Mahlangu
they would have appointed her to act as a chief in the first place or
put differently it is unfathomable they would not have brought
that to the fore much sooner or after her having assumed the role
of Acting Chief. In any event his evidence is contradictory in the

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