Journalist threatened with legal action

Journalist threatened with legal action OTIS FINCK

Walvis Bay businessman Johnny Doeseb has threatened to take legal action against investigative journalist John Grobler following comments he made on social media regarding the ongoing multimillion-dollar fraud and money-laundering case before the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court.

Grobler ruffled feathers on Wednesday when he requested clarity on Facebook from anybody in Walvis Bay on whether Doeseb had been questioned in connection with an alleged N$3.5 billion tax-fraud scheme involving Chinese nationals and a customs official.

Grobler wrote that phone calls made to the police and prosecutors in order to verify a rumour in this regard went unanswered. He wrote that the rumour had been heard from two separate sources.

Doeseb immediately took on Grobler on his Facebook page.

“I was never involved in any criminal acts since I started doing business 17 years ago and don’t dream of joining that trade. I made my millions fairly and legitimately. Your post lacks substance and is totally defamatory. I will never become a criminal like that apartheid brothers of yours [sic],” he said.

Doeseb said Grobler never contacted him for comment on the allegation and he would “take him to the cleaners”.

He said he had instructed lawyer Sylsken Makando to take legal action against Grobler.

Doeseb is the chairperson of the Namibian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Walvis Bay and also the Namibia Premier League.

Apology

Grobler apologised to Doeseb in a second Facebook post, but Doeseb refused to accept it, stating that his legal representative had advised him not to comment.

“I apologise for casting any aspersion on your probity, but with the tax scams in Walvis Bay proliferating faster than cockroaches in a dumpster it is hard to tell who is still clean in that town and who is not,” Grobler wrote.

“It’s the company that you keep that leads to certain confusion, you know. I am sorry. I just needed to know if there was any truth in the rumour. It’s a pity you had to stoop to such ugly racism though. Insulting my parents, who both happen to have detested HF Verwoerd, is such a cheap shot.”