Martin Welz, editor of Noseweek. File photo.
Investigative magazine Noseweek might be forced to close its print publication if it loses an appeal against a R330 000 defamation lawsuit.
The Western Cape High court in April ordered the publication to pay R330 000 and legal costs to Leonard Katz, the director of ENSafrica, SA's largest law firm.
The court ruled that the publication must pay R330 000 and costs.
Katz had sued the magazine for R1 million.
According to fin24, Noseweek editor Martin Welz told subscribers in an email that the magazine might close the print publication and only publish the online version.
“As much as some people are undoubtedly pleased to see us gone, many more have said they will miss their monthly Noseweek “fix” arriving in their postbox,” Welz was quoted as saying in the email.
Fin24 said the magazine wrote a series of articles about Katz that made allegations about his conduct in liquidation cases.
“Katz requested the magazine to retract, and Noseweek refused. Katz filed a case of defamation against Welz and the magazine’s publisher and owner, Chaucer,” said the publication.
According to Fin24, the court found that the magazine didn’t reveal any evidence to substantiate its claims.
Welz told the magazine’s subscribers that Noseweek intended to appeal the findings.
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