Namibia: Teacher Sued for N$300 000 Over HIV Comments

A TEACHER from Onamutai Combined School is being sued for N$300 000 after she claimed someone was HIV positive.

According to court documents, the teacher, Ruth Martha Hangula (39) in the presence of several people remarked that Libertine Popyeni Shiyaleni (28) was HIV positive and it was for that reason that she left Oshigambo High School in 2014.

“The content of the remarks are false and defamatory in that it imputes or were intended to impute and were understood by persons who heard them or who was distributed to impute that:

“Shiyaleni is a dangerous person to the public due to the defamatory remarks that she is HIV positive,” her lawyers Mukaya Nyambe and incorporated wrote.

The attorneys also said the remarks seek to mean that Shiyaleni was of ill repute and that she was being stigmatised.

“The defamatory remarks carried the additional sting that Shiyaleni has loose morals, is a person without any moral fibre and generally not a fit and proper person for the public,” the lawyers added.

On 26 May 2016 Hangula was served with a warning letter to refrain from spreading “vicious rumours” and that she must desist from harassing and intimidating Shiyaleni.

On 18 January 2018 Hangula paid an admission of guilt fine after a criminal case was opened against her.

“This emanates from an incident of 15 December 2017.

“Despite a summons constituting demand, Hangula has failed to desist from further spreading derogatory remarks against Shiyaleni. As a further consequence of the foregoing, Shiyaleni has endured pain and suffering at Hangula for the past four years as her [Hangula] words served to lower Shiyaleni in the estimation of right-thinking members of the community,” the lawyers wrote.

In the documents, Shiyaleni claims her life has been made horrible as she was facing a lot of rejection in the public due to the alleged defamatory remarks.

Hangula yesterday said that he has not yet received the court documents. She also denied that she said Shiyaleni was HIV positive.

Shiyaleni yesterday denied being HIV positive.

“Namibia is one of the African countries that has reached a milestone in overcoming the stigma against people living with HIV-AIDS, yet we still have people in our society that continue to suffer from stigma based on their status,” she said.

She further added that it is disappointing and horrifying to know that there are still Namibians out there who continue to bully and stigmatise other people and violate human rights.