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Legalbrief   |   your legal news hub Thursday 05 November 2026

Judge orders editor, columnist to explain

Pretoria High Court Judge Essop Patel ordered Beeld newspaper editor Peet Kruger and freelance columnist Jeanne Goosen to appear before the court this morning (Thursday) to explain why a column on the Cezanne Visser sex crimes trial contained incorrect information.

He also ordered the prosecution authorities and the police to investigate a charge of contempt of court against Goosen and the newspaper, says a report on the IoL site. The judge pointed out that the accused – Cezanne Visser and Dirk Prinsloo – had the right to have their integrity protected, and said it would be ill-advised to attach labels to them. This included comparisons of Visser to Barbie, the blonde, busty plastic doll, and also to Saartje Baartman, a Khoi woman abused at 19th Century curiosity shows in Europe. ‘This is offensive, not only to Ms Visser but also to the memory of Saartje Baartman’, the judge said. Goosen – in a column published on Tuesday – compared the media attention being paid to Visser to the life of Baartman. Full report on the IoL site See also a report of the proceedings on the News24 site