Former Mail & Guardian editor Nicholas Dawes celebrated the Pretoria High Court decision that “strikes down” the National Director Public Prosecutions’s refusal to “publish facts of secret Mac Maharaj inquiry”.
“In 2011 Mac Maharaj threatened @SamSoleZA‚ @StefaansB and I with jail. Today a court told him where to get off‚” Dawes @NicDawes tweeted.
The high court on Thursday ruled that the “section 28 inquiry’s transcripts can by no stretch of imagination be regarded as confidential”.
These 2003 transcripts‚ the paper argued five years ago‚ contain proof that Maharaj “lied to the Scorpions regarding alleged bribes” made to his wife Zarina by convicted Schabir Shaik.
The Mail & Guardian was forced to black out sections of a report after receiving threats of a criminal prosecution from lawyers representing Maharaj.
On Thursday‚ the court ruled that the transcripts could not be regarded as confidential as they have “been in the public domain for at least 10 years”.
Maharaj retired as President Jacob Zuma’s spokesperson last year. - TMG Digital
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