Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba has instructed his attorneys to start defamation of character proceedings against former radio journalist Redi Thlabi on Thursday after she failed to withdraw allegations that a personal vendetta spurred his introduction of restrictive visa regulations three years ago.
Gigaba, in a tweet, said he was giving Thlabi until 5 pm on Thursday to retract her comments, which she made after he announced the relaxation of the much-criticised regulations.
This followed a tweet by the minister a few hours earlier in which he accused the former presenter on 702 Talk Radio, of pandering to racists.
In 2015, he introduced visa regulations that required all minors to have an unabridged birth certificate, along with their passport, in order to pass customs. If they were not travelling with their parents, they needed written consent from the parents. The rules caused an outcry from affected families and tourism bodies.
The Twitter row began when Tlhabi suggested that when Gigaba initially introduced the restrictions he was motivated by a tug of war with his ex-wife.
"Is it not true that you were LIVID when a cousin of your ex-wife travelled with your daughter Lerato, whilst your wife was in Cuba? Upon finding out, you laid charges of kidnapping..even though you knew your ex-wife's cousin very well & your daughter was quite happy with her?
"YOU had a personal issue of yr ex-wife making travel arrangements with yr daughter without your consent, so you decided "I'll sort this problem out?" You implemented untested regulations, claiming to address child trafficking? Have your regulations brought child trafficking down?"
Thlabi responded to Gigaba's threat of a lawsuit and said she considered herself warned.
She said she had not victimised the Minister or his daughter.
- African News Agency (ANA)
