ABSTRACT
It will be defamatory to say that someone has been convicted or is guilty of a criminal offence; or being a member of an illegal organisation, such as the Communist Party when the Suppression of Communism Act was in force in South Africa. In Ohanbamuv Midwest Newspaper Corpn., it was defamatory to say of the plaintiff "his Biafra", suggesting sympathy with the secessionists. Trade union officials also sue: it was defamatory to suggest that the plaintiff had been taking money from foreign trades unions, was building a personal empire and should be barred from trade union activities. In Williams v West African Pilot allegations of the following were held defamatory: "bribery of the electorate, electoral fraud, the employment of thugs and ex-convicts for mass impersonation at an election and the buying of the conscience and allegiance of candidates who have won an election on different platforms".
