BUSINESSMAN and lawyer Rodney Saratoga Makausi has won a US$18 000 defamation case against rapper Kikky Bad**s over false social media claims by the musician.
Kikky made sensational claims that Makausi, who is a prominent lawyer in Masvingo, was a sex predator, adulterous man and a figure of questionable morals.
Angered by these claims, Justice Sunsley Zisengwe ordered the socialite to pay US$18 000, or its equivalent in Zimbabwean currency at the prevailing official rate, as defamation damages.
The rapper claimed, in an Instagram post, that Makausi was attempting to solicit for sex.
The businessman sought US$500 000 in damages when Kikky refused to delete the post but he later amended his claim to US$60 000 before the court awarded him US$18 000.
Makausi told the court that he was not an adulterous man who solicited sex from women as purported by Kikky’s post.
He said he was a morally upright man, who has been running a successful law practice under the name and style of Saratoga Makausi Law Chambers since 2013, with a staff complement of two other lawyers and five supporting staff.
He said during this period he has been running several successful business ventures and has acquired several immovable properties in prime areas of Masvingo.
Crucially, he said he is a devout member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church and have occupied several leadership positions within his congregation in Masvingo. He said part of his fundamental beliefs as a practising Adventist is that the moral law, as espoused in the Ten Commandments, is the immutable, irrevocable, and eternal foundation of the Kingdom of God. Therefore, a good reputation was to him everything and without it he was nothing.
He is right on that.
As a prominent lawyer, he needs the trust of the people, who want to engage his services, who believe that he is a morally-upright man and not a broken individual who chases after women demanding sex.
So, we believe that Makausi was right to pursue a legal case against Kikky because the onus was on the musician to prove what she posted was factual.
She did not prove that and she will pay a big price for that.
For us, the biggest statement from all this is that it reminds everyone that they don’t have the freedom to abuse the names of other individuals on social media without anything to back their claims. We have seen that many prominent people are being abused on social media, mainly by some faceless individuals who use ghost accounts to carry their hatchet jobs.
These people must also be pursued so that they pay for their sins. This is what leads to extortion because someone like Makausi could have been tempted to even pay some money to try and ensure that Kikky deleted her damaging posts.
But, Makausi chose the right route because as a lawyer he knows his rights and he fought for his name and reputation and won.
Let this be a warning to all the social media hawks.