Diamond dealer brings R5 million lawsuit against DA MP

THE NORTHERN Cape High Court granted an application to postpone the R5 million defamation lawsuit that was brought against DA Member of Parliament Veronica van Dyk by controversial Gauteng diamond dealer Louis Liebenberg this week.

Van Dyk alleged on social media that Liebenberg was racist and was also swindling unsuspecting victims of millions of rand through an illegal Ponzi scheme.

According to the provisional liquidator’s report, Liebenberg’s diamond and gold company Tariomix entered into joint venture agreements with investors to provide capital for the company to trade in diamonds.

Investors were allegedly lured with promises of sharing “handsome” profits.

Deposits were paid into a virtual wallet through a third-party provider - All Encompassing Switching (Pty) Ltd - by investors who were added to a private Facebook group and WhatsApp group known as “Forever Diamonds and Gold” that attracted around 82 000 members.

Members were invited to invest in packets of uncut diamonds that were posted on the WhatsApp group by the administrators, where payments were facilitated by AE Switch.

The access of investors who enquired about overdue payments was blocked on the WhatsApp and Facebook groups as well as the AE Switch wallet and they were unable to track their investments or determine when it was to be paid out.

While Liebenberg, in court papers, acknowledged that the prospects of receiving the claim for damages to his reputation were slim, he indicated that he intended, through the court action, to silence Van Dyk’s public criticism of him, where he also believed that his right to freedom of speech was being violated.

He stated that he was being “harangued, verbally abused, intimidated and threatened”.

Van Wyk, who is also the DA constituency head of Kamiesberg, released a press statement on July 14, 2020, regarding the “racist behaviour of the well known diamond miner Ponzi schemer” to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).

She found a video clip of Liebenberg imitating President Cyril Ramaphosa that was posted on social media “speaking crudely and inferring that being black gives you licence to be corrupt”.

Van Dyk believed that his impersonation was “offensive” and described his skit as being “downright rude and racist”.

She was convinced that he was giving “white people a bad name by scheming vulnerable indigenous communities in the Northern Cape” and “exploiting illegal miners in Namaqualand for his own economic gain.”

In her statement, Van Dyk added that Liebenberg was a “key instigator of spurring on illegal diamond mining in Namakwaland”.

“He even posed as a business partner of the illegal miners, whom he claimed to support through the funding of legal battles against the State to acquire mining permits.”

The SAHRC, however, rejected the complaint that was lodged by the DA as it did not meet the hate speech threshold.

Northern Cape High Court Judge Violet Phatsoane on Wednesday indicated that a 321-page report by the liquidators into the alleged Ponzi scheme that was released in August, as well as financial documents, would “take some time to digest”.

“Both parties should be offered an opportunity to present their case.”

She postponed the matter indefinitely.

Liebenberg is being represented by Walter Niedinger from WN Attorneys Incorporated, while advocate Piet Olivier upon instruction from Elzaan Jonker from Minde Schapiro and Smith Attorneys is appearing on behalf of Van Dyk.