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Ex-Robben Island political prisoner and businessman Peter-Paul Ngwenya has been found guilty of crimen injuria at the Randburg Magistrates’ Court.
This was after Ngwenya called his long-term friend Fani Titi, who is the chair of Investec, a “Qwaqwa k****r” and a “Bantustan boss” in a text message in 2016.
City Press understands that Ngwenya made the remarks over unpaid money, among other things.
City Press previously reported that the men had a friendship that dated back 20 years, but the relationship fell apart when a business deal went south.
Read: A multimillion-rand feud to the bitter end
The feud between Titi and his estranged friend Ngwenya was over multimillion-rand shares in three radio stations.
Ngwenya claimed that Titi had cut him off and refused to pay him dividends to the value of R3.9 million.
Ngwenya could also have been found in breach of a protection order, dated October 5 2016, which forbade him from contacting Titi and his business partner directly or indirectly.
Magistrate Pravina Raghoonandan found on Thursday morning against Ngwenya in the K-word saga despite the fact that he had submitted, in his defence, that his reference to “Qwaqwa k****r” and a “Bantustan boss” was not in meant in a racist context, but that he meant Titi was anti-African.
He submitted that such use of the K-word was a culture among black people and that it was also used in this context by prisoners in Robben Island.
However, Raghoonandan found that the use of the K-word was unconstitutional, among other issues.
But she found Ngwenya not guilty on other charges that relate to alleged harassment and the contravention of the protection order.
Ngwenya’s lawyer, Bevan Ndebele, told City Press after his conviction that they have not studied the written judgment.
He said he would consult Ngwenya after sentencing on whether to file for an appeal.
Parties are scheduled to return to court on October 4 for mitigation of sentencing.
Ngwenya’s bail has been extended.
