Opinion – Is civil suit the only remedy for defamation?

Over the last two decades, Namibians have witnessed persons who allege that their good names in society are infringed by the conduct of other persons against them often resort to instituting civil action against offenders/perpetrators in courts of law with the purpose of obtaining a judgment order against the perpetrators.

Often, such civil litigants claimed that perpetrators have intentionally, wrongfully and unlawfully publicised defamatory remarks against them, which are false and of a serious nature, and which are made in public with the sole purpose of harming their dignity, reputation or character.

Such civil litigants may be right in terms of the Roman-Dutch law (a Western component of legal tradition, also known as ius commune), but they may be labelled as ruthless and merciless persons who adopted the style of an old adage of ‘a tooth for a tooth’ or ‘an eye for an eye’.

In converse, the African philosophy of Ubuntu, which is a foundation of human rights, does not promote acts of hatred, vengeance, intimidation and suppressing one another, because the African component only promotes humanity towards one another in human kindness.