Acting Judge Anthony Minnaar on Tuesday dismissed the motion for lack of urgency.
Mzansi Magic's Queen Modjadji will air as scheduled this Sunday after the High Court ruled in MultiChoice's favour in a case against the Balobedu Royal Council over the broadcast of the TV series.
On Tuesday, Queen Masalanabo Modjadzi VII, the Balobedu Royal Family and the Balobedu Royal Council filed an urgent application in the Pretoria High Court to block the broadcast of the series.
Acting Judge Anthony Minnaar dismissed the application for lack of urgency. A council led by Chief Gabriel Rathebotsa applied to the High Court in Pretoria to block the broadcast of the series.
Rasevotsa said he went to court because he felt he had been “undermined by the producers of the Queen Modjadji series and Multichoice”.
“The Balobedu Royal Council was not consulted, the Queen was not consulted. We have been undermined by the apartheid government,” he said.
Related article: 'No factual or legal basis': MultiChoice responds to 'Queen Modjaji' legal battle
In Court
talk Citizen Before the matter came before the court, MultiChoice was confident that it had a good chance of winning the case.
“We are confident that the court will dismiss the case and viewers will not be deprived of the opportunity to watch this epic tale inspired by the legendary rain-making king of Balobedu, the first Queen Modjadji,” the channel said.
According to one report: SowetanLawyer Terry Motau SC, representing both MultiChoice and Duma ka Ndlovu, said the applicants chose to commence their application on July 4 despite knowing the series would soon be broadcast from March 2024.
In court documents, Motau said that even if a fictional drama series set more than 200 years ago implicates the applicants' rights, “the applicants have not presented any evidence that the series would cause cognizable harm”.
“Most fundamentally, the applicants have not and cannot meet the high standard necessary to obtain prior restraint of speech.”
Motau argued that banning speech before it is even made is a serious violation of the right to freedom of expression and called the council's remedy “fishing”.
“Requiring broadcasters to justify constitutionally protected speech in advance is a serious infringement of the constitutional guarantee of free speech and is inconsistent with the authority of both the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court in this regard,” he said.
Motau said there was no general principle in law requiring broadcasters to obtain permission before publishing or to provide copies of publications to third parties in advance.
Citizen MultiChoice has not yet responded to a request for comment, but this story will be updated if they do.
NOW READ: Royal family excited about premiere of 'Queen Modjadji'