Plato ends bid to sue tabloid

By Lindsay Dentlinger

Mayor Dan Plato has given up a legal bid to sue a local tabloid for defamation.

On Wednesday the full council rescinded a decision that it had taken in May that would have allowed Plato to pursue the matter using council funds.

An article published in Die Son newspaper alleged that the mayor was engaged in improper relations with female staff members in his office.

The DA refrained from contributing to debate on a report tabled before the council on Wednesday in which it was asked to retract four out of five recommendations for action to which it had earlier agreed.

The council would, however, stick to the view that it had endorsed earlier, that the "methodology employed by the newspaper was reprehensible and deplorable".

The latest report to the council noted that further investigations into the ability of the council to provide legal assistance to the mayor in this regard had produced differing legal opinion.

Because of this, Plato had decided not to proceed with legal action against Die Son at this time.

The press ombudsman ruled in July that Plato had not been defamed by the article, although it acknowledged that he had been the victim of an unfair attack.

On Wednesday the ACDP and the ANC said they did not agree that the council should attempt to remove their earlier decisions on the matter from the council record.

The ACDP's Grant Haskin said his party had warned at the time that the prospects of success were questionable.

The move had been "hasty and stupid".

Instead, the council should be noting the consequences of the decision in May.

ANC whip Peter Gabriel said that while his party welcomed the mayor's decision not to use council funds in a legal battle, he was also not in favour of the council being made to retract its earlier decisions.

"It's a personal matter for the mayor to pursue. The mayor occupies a hot seat and he has to respond to allegations as best he can," said Gabriel.

He also said it was unfair of Plato to cast aspersions that the ANC might be behind the smear campaign which had led to the article.

Gabriel suggested instead that it had been factions within the DA that were behind the allegations.

The ID's Gerhard Ras said the mayor had a right to sue for defamation if he felt aggrieved.

Plato remained silent during the debate, as did his colleagues, although they voted.

The ID and Freedom Front Plus supported the DA's recommendation to rescind its earlier decision on the matter, while the ACDP and Universal Party voted against it.

The ANC, Africa Muslim Party, the National Peoples Party, Social Democratic Party and certain independent candidates abstained.

• This article was originally published on page 3 of The Cape Argus on August 27, 2009