The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg has ruled that comments made by the EFF about Trevor Manuel were "defamatory and false".
In Thursday's written judgment, Judge Elias Matojane concluded that Manuel had suffered reputational harm when the EFF issued the statement disseminated via various media platforms accusing Manuel of nepotism and corruption in influencing the appointment of new SARS commissioner Edward Kieswetter.
The court ordered the EFF to, within 24 hours, remove the statements from all their media platforms and apologize to Manuel.
Judge Matojane also ruled that the Former Finance Minister is entitled to damages of half a million rand that the EFF must pay him.
Manuel had approached the court after the the party refused to apologize for accusing him of nepotism in the process that led to the appointment of Edward Kieswetter as the new commissioner of the SA Revenue Service.
According to the judgment, Manuel had been "injured in his dignity" by the EFF claims. ANA
