Cape Town - Cape Town businessman Mark Lifman has given the Beerhouse owner seven days to retract statements he made during interviews with the media.
Randolf Jorberg, who has since left the country, spoke about extortion of businesses in the CBD and that he was forced to pay after his doorman was killed.
He said the pressure to pay the “protection fee” started on the second or third day of trading in Long Street in 2013, when a man from the “underworld” visited the business.
Jorberg refused to pay, until a few days after an employee was murdered.
Thirty-two-year-old bouncer Joe Kanyona was stabbed in the neck at Beerhouse on June 20, 2015.
“I paid R2 000 and it was never about the amount, because our business was doing well back then.”
At the beginning of this month, Beerhouse permanently shut its doors.
Jorberg shared articles from establishments which followed his story.
And on Saturday he wrote on his Facebook page that he needed a lawyer to help him with the extortion case that led to the murder, seeking an attorney to represent them pro bono in a case against Lifman and Hussein Taleb over intimidation, extortion and murder.
He explained he felt the SAPS was unable to take his statements via video calls and he had formal requirements that were difficult to fulfil through Interpol. He needed an attorney to ensure the case was not dropped again.
On Wednesday, Lifman’s lawyers at Ian Levitt Attorneys wrote to Jorberg.
Their response focuses on a series of public statements made by an unidentified individual. The statements are alleged to be defamatory toward Lifman.
“In the circumstances, having regard to the defamatory nature of your statements and the prejudice suffered by our client, as a result of your publication of false facts, we are instructed to demand on behalf of our client as we do, that:
“You retract the statements on every social media platform on which they were published and falling within your control, within seven days of receipt of this letter, and in any event by no later than 4 September 2024; and you publish the following apology and retraction on each platform on which your statements are published, falling within your control: “My statements as they relate to Mark Lifman have been unreservedly retracted due to factual inaccuracies which may have been defamatory to the subject of the statements.
“I have agreed to this retraction to avoid unnecessary litigation and as an amicable resolution to the dispute with the subject.”
The lawyers have demanded that Jorberg share the public retraction with all media houses with which he conducted the media statements and interviews, or face litigation.
“You apologise to our client in writing for said factual inaccuracies in your statements and the defamation of our client. We hope that this matter can be amicably resolved between our client and yourself.
“Should you agree with our approach above, then we request you confirm the same in writing by close of business, Monday 2 September 2024.
“Should you fail to accede to our client’s reasonable demands within the time period stipulated and/or to our client’s satisfaction, then our client will be compelled to take the following steps against you, including but not limited to instituting litigation against you.”