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National Defence Force members patrol during a tour at Kusile Power Station on September 11, 2023. (Gallo Images/Daily Maverick/Felix Dlangamandla)
A former Eskom official who oversaw quality assurance at Medupi and Kusile has lost his defamation bid against the power utility.Sipho Tjabadi, who was fired by Eskom in 2015, wanted the utility to publicly apologise for hurting his reputation. But the legal action backfired when a judge ruled claims made against Tjabadi by Eskom were “probably justified”.For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page.Eskom’s former head of quality and business excellence has failed in his bid to prove the power utility defamed him, with a judge saying he provided no evidence to back up his claims.
The Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg found that statements made by Eskom against Sipho Tjabadi – including that he was the subject of a criminal probe, and was “irresponsible and dishonest” – were “probably justified”.
Tjabadi was disciplined and fired by the power utility in June 2015 for mishandling contracts, negligence, and acting against Eskom’s interests.
He later lost a challenge to have the case thrown out at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA), which ruled his dismissal procedurally and substantively fair. He is in the process of appealing the matter before the Labour Court.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Tjabadi worked at Eskom for 25 years, rising to be the group’s head of quality assurance. He oversaw quality at the company’s much-delayed and over-budget new build programme, which includes the Medupi and Kusile power stations.
Last week, he took Eskom to court, arguing that he had been defamed in legal statements filed in three unrelated legal proceedings.
While Tjabadi was not a party to the cases, he said he wished to protect his reputation against attack. He asked the court to order Eskom to publicly apologise to him and commit not to defame him in the future.
Sipho Tjabadi (LinkedIn)
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He took issue with three statements: that he was “the subject of criminal fraud charges”, that he had engaged in “irresponsible and dishonest behaviour”, and that he had “wrongfully” approved a task order in collusion with another person.
In a hearing on Wednesday, his lawyers argued that once he had proven the statements were defamatory, it would be up to Eskom to prove they were true.
But in a short ruling handed down on Friday, Gauteng High Court Judge Stuart Wilson said Tjabadi’s lawyers had relied on dodgy reasoning.
Wilson explained that in a motion proceeding such as the one Tjabadi had brought, he had to provide some evidence that the statements were not true.
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The statements had also been made in legal affidavits, which under SA law enjoy qualified privilege. This makes it difficult to pick them apart for defamation.
“There is no suggestion that Eskom’s statements exceeded the bounds of the privilege that would normally attach to them,” said Wilson.
He said Tjabadi had brought no evidence to show the statements were false.
“His own papers establish that the defamation of which he complains was probably lawful,” said the judge.
“It is Mr Tjabadi who discloses that the defamatory matter was probably published on a privileged occasion … It is Mr Tjabadi who discloses Eskom’s version that the truth of the defamatory allegations is apparent from the CCMA record, the contents of which he declines to address.”
The judge adds: “And if the allegations are true, then it was plainly in the public interest that they were published at the time and in the manner they were.”
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