Cape Town - Community activist Colin Arendse has pleaded not guilty in the Mitchells Plain Magistrate’s Court to four counts of criminal defamation brought against him by former major-general Greg Goss.
“At this stage I cannot talk about the merits of the case. I’m not guilty and will divulge more information once I have testified in the matter,” Arendse said.
The case stems from alleged utterances made by Arendse in May 2017 relating to an alleged rape case which a victim registered at Mitchells Plain police station.
Details about the incident were published in a daily newspaper and the State argued that on May 29, 2017 he posted a reference of the newspaper report with the message: “Not at all surprises that this alleged incident occurred under the watch of that local idiot, Major General Greg Goss”.
The State further alleges that on May 8, 2017 former police officer Paul Scheepers was arrested, and following this Arendse sent an email to General Lesetja Mothiba and copied Goss.
In it he said Goss was “non compos mentis” and unable to fulfil his duties as a police officer.
The indictment also shows that on July 28, 2017 Arendse posted the following message on his Facebook page: “Major-general Greg Goss is one of the most corrupt members of our SA Police Service.
“If you have dealings with this miscreant, you do so at your own peril.”
Community activist Colin Arendse has pleaded not guilty in the Mitchells Plain Magistrate’s Court to four counts of criminal defamation.
And, in another instance, the State alleges that on August 1, 2017 Arendse sent an email to Mothiba wherein he stated that “Britz is the daughter of an apartheid era cop, a General/Brigadier Britz whom the corrupt Goss reported (to) in the Eastern Cape during the dark days of apartheid.
“Goss arranged for her transfer from the Eastern Cape to Mitchells Plain and she does his work for you as she is based in his office.”
In his plea explanation, Arendse’s legal representative, Winston
Erasmus argued that the case was a constitutional matter as his client was expressing his right to freedom of speech.
The matter was postponed to Wednesday, when the magistrate is expected to hand down a decision in the matter.
@TheCapeArgus