S.Africa’s Zuma drops raft of defamation lawsuits

South African President Jacob Zuma has decided to drop a raft of media defamation lawsuits seeking millions of rand in damages, his office said Friday.

Zuma fired off the claims between 2006 and 2010 over cartoons or articles that he alleged were defamatory or designed to damage his name.

“In consultation with his legal team, President Zuma has elected to withdraw his claims against the various entities and in so doing bring these matters to a close,” his office said in a statement.

The presidency did not reveal how many cases were involved.

A total of 14 cases had been lodged seeking 60 million rand ($6.0 million, 4.6 million euros), a media lawyer told AFP.

Webber Wentzel lawyer Dario Milo, who was defending six of the lawsuits, said nine claims were still active.

This was after three were dismissed and one was dropped by Zuma.

Of the total 14 lawsuits, only one had seen payment: a 50,000 rand settlement for a letter that was published in a weekly newspaper.

The claims were unprecedented in South Africa, Milo said.

“There were 14 issued rapidly in the space of four years and… the amounts that were claimed were unprecedented.”

Zuma’s personal and professional life has provided rich pickings for satirists.

So far this year, furores have raged over a multi-million dollar security upgrade to his private rural home and the use of an air base for a family wedding party hosted by close allies.

In October, he dropped a legal battle over a cartoon showing him about to rape a blindfolded Lady Justice figure in 2008.

Some of the material had “sought to cast African males in a particularly negative light with bigoted and racist overtones and innuendo”, the statement said.

Noting that the bulk of the litigation dated to before Zuma took office in 2009, his office said the decision was “informed by the broader agenda of reconciliation and nation building”.

“The president feels that measured as against the broader national interest and challenges which the country is faced with, his personal sentiments, however aggrieved he may feel, must give way.”

He was suing both media houses and individuals.