Buthelezi v Thwala & Another (1298 of 2016) [2022] SZHC 215 (14 October 2022)

Case summary

Rule 33 (4) of the High Court Rules - Plaintiff on the date of trial applies to the court to separate the issues. On one end, the court is called upon to inte1pret as matter of law if certain words which unde1pins the Plaintiff's defamatory claim are defamatory as a matter of law. The basis being that the Plaintiff has already sued another party successfully on the basis of the very offensive statement. On the other end of the spectrum, if the court interprets the alleged offensive words to be defamatory, then the court should separate the issues and allow evidence only on the question of quantum

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