Cape Town - Cape Town attorney Gary Trappler has lost his long-running defamation court battle over comments posted on social media against him by Green Point Neighbourhood Watch chairperson Peter Flentov.
Trappler had applied for an interdict against Flentov, urging the court to order him to “cease and desist” from making allegations against him relating to a February 2020 malicious damage to property incident in which Trappler was alleged to have slashed a neighbour’s tyres.
Western Cape High Court Judge Hayley Slingers said Trappler had not established a reasonable apprehension of irreparable harm if the interdict was not granted.
She said Trappler had cited historical publications by Flentov, but had presented no facts to show that Flentov was continuing to post defamatory statements about him, or that he was threatening to do so in the future.
Judge Slingers said it would be an understatement to describe the relationship between Trappler and Flentov as acrimonious and described the matter as a “classic case of tit for tat”.
“This acrimony has resulted in years-long litigation with both parties approaching the Magistrate’s Court for protection orders under the Protection of Harassment Act.”
The judge said the uncontested facts of the matter showed that Trappler posted a copy of an online newspaper report of Flentov’s 2014 arrests on two charges of stalking and one of trespass.
In retaliation, Flentov posted a link to the applicant’s 2014 arrest for possession of cocaine and the interim protection order that his wife had sought against him.
Slingers ruled that it was common knowledge that an interdict is not a remedy for the past invasion of rights, but for present and future invasions and that motion proceedings were inappropriate where there was a factual dispute.
She said Trappler, as an experienced attorney, should have known this.
Commenting on the judgment Trappler said: “I hold Judge Slingers in high regard but in this instance, I think her judgment is bad in law as there is constitutional authority favouring my version.
“In the meantime I’ve counter-claimed against Flentov for damages for his defamatory publications of me on social media and I’m confident that I’ll be successful at trial.”
Trappler said in due course there were likely to be criminal consequences against Flentov because of his injurious publications.
Flentov said: “This was yet another attempt by Trappler to obtain a gag order against me, and yet again he failed. Maybe one needs to ask why he’s so desperate to try and silence me.”
Flentov said that the punitive costs that the judge granted in his favour were further proof of the lack of substance in Trappler’s case against him.