Cosatu general-secretary Zwelinzima Vavi will not apologise to communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda.
Last week, Nyanda's lawyers, Edward Nathan Sonnenberg (ENS), sent Vavi a letter, asking him to publicly retract statements made during a 28 May press conference at which Vavi allegedly referred to Nyanda as a “corrupt minister”.
Director in Edward Nathan Sonnenberg's litigation department Siyabonga Mahlangu says Vavi's legal team responded to the letter yesterday, with a letter of their own.
The response indicated Vavi would not apologise in public, as he did not feel he had defamed the minister.
Nyanda wants to defend his right to his good name and reputation, as well as his right to dignity, and to protect the trust the ANC and South African citizens have in him as a minister.
Mahlangu says the ENS legal team will now sit down with Nyanda to consider the response and the options available to Nyanda, which could include taking the matter to court. He says the team will decide on the most appropriate response, “but we must treat the matter with the seriousness it deserves”.
Cosatu spokesman Patrick Craven previously said Vavi was not specifically accusing someone of being corrupt, but was pointing out to the ruling party that there have been allegations of corruption, which must be investigated.
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