Pretoria - Former finance minister Trevor Manuel took Environmental Affairs Minister Nomvula Mokonyane to court over alleged defamatory statements she made about him in 2017. The statements were made during an interview on the television programme The Justice Factor when Mokonyane was minister of water and sanitation.
In November 2017 Mokonyane was interviewed by Justice Malala on the eNCA TV programme, which focused on political news.Manuel said that during the interview Mokonyane made various statements which portrayed him in a bad light. She referred to a letter written to her by an investor, stating who they wanted her to appoint as board members of Umgeni Water. She said the investor was Future Growth, which Manuel headed.
She, among others, said that the letter was “unfortunate” and an “overreach”. Manuel said Mokonyane added that the “environment” in which the letter was sent was “contaminated”. Manuel said the letter was seen by the minister as an attempt by him to manipulate the process to appoint board members. She intimated that Manuel did this for ulterior reasons, which she said she had stopped in order for the process to be conducted “in line with the law”.
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