ANC Spokesman Jessie Duarte buys Zuma Shower Gel – Sunday Times
It
THE ANC is unhappy with Justin Nurse’s bathroom product called Zuma Shower Gel, which pokes fun at ANC president Jacob Zuma. ANC spokesman Jessie Duarte says the party is considering legal action against Laugh It Off, the small company famed for winning a lengthy court battle against SA Breweries four years ago overthe right to use a T-shirt spoofing their Black Label beer label.
“We have instituted a complaint through our legal people,” says Jesse, who bought the shower gel when she heard about it to hand over to the party’s lawyers. ,
She says the product is derogatory and Laugh lt Off did not seek permission from Zuma to use his name. But she does not want to comment further on either the shower gel or a YouTube video featuring the product. ”l did not want to undermine the election campaign by making this an issue when it is not.”
Justin, the founder of Laugh It Off, is “ecstatic” that the ANC is considering legal action against his company. “We can’t wait. Bring it on. Laugh It Off loves a good legal battle,” he says.
Jane Dun can, executive director of the The Freedom of expression Institute, says any move by the ANC to sue Laugh lt Off would be “worrying”, particularly in the wake of the SABC’s “rescheduling” of a Special Assignment programme on political satire and the fact that Zuma is suing cartoonist Zapiro for defamation for his “Rape of Justice” cartoon.
“lf Nurse is now going to run into legal problems, then l think we need to ask ourselves whether we are going to enjoy freedom of expression under a Zuma presidency,” she says.
She does not regard the You’l'ube video as defamatory. “Frankly, if Zuma’s reputation has been hurt in the eyes of society, then it is not by Justin Nurse, but by his own actions,” says Jane, adding that she is concerned about growing hostility towards political satire.
A defamation law specialist at attorneys Webber Wentzel, Dario Milo, doesn’t believe the product can be considered defamatory.
He says South African defamation law gives a g eat degree of protection to satirical commentary on politicians. “What is required is that the underlying facts upon which the satirical remarks are based must be true or at least reasonably true. In the case of the Zuma Shower Gel, the product itself is not objectionable in light of Zuma’s testimony in court, and most of the text accompanying the video of Zuma taking a shower seems to me to be defensible- with the exception of ‘Being President is a crime’.”
Dario believes that though Laugh It Offs YouTube video featuring a naked black man showering is “graphic and offensive”, it is “probably” protected under the law of defamation.
But Russell Norton, an attorney specialising in intellectual property at attorneys Spoor and Fisher, believes that though the shower gel may escape litigation, the video has “gone toofar”. He says where parody of a public figure is involved, the defence against an action for defamation would be that the
statement is true and for the public benefit, or that it is fair comment on a matter of public interest
He says while the Zuma Shower Gel may be a clear parody of Zuma, he believes it will be difficult for anyone to raise the defence of “true and for the public benefit or fair comment” on a matter of public interest where the satire or parody is aimed almost entirely at “belittling or humiliating” a public figure.”
Ngaa Murombedzi, a store assistant at Big Blue in Montecasino, says the shower gel has been selling “very well” since the store began stocking it late last year.
