Business & Human Rights Resource Centre Featured pages Featured pages Featured pages Opinion Featured pages Article S. Africa: âA sweet victory but war not overâ says defendant in SLAPP case as company confirms it will appeal judgement âAustralian mining firm intends to appeal judgment that favoured activistsâ 15 February 2021 An Australian mining firm with interests in the West Coast says it will appeal a judgment by Western Cape High Court deputy judge president Patricia Goliath in relation to the Slapp suit (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) it brought against six South African environmental justice and community activists. In her judgment, Judge Goliath found that the slew of defamation lawsuits filed by Mineral Commodities Limited (MRC) and its local subsidiary against the defendants was an abuse of the legal process. Goliath said: âCorporations should not be allowed to weaponise our legal system against the ordinary citizen and activists in order to intimidate and silence them.â One of the defendants, Tracey Davies, acknowledged that a battle had been won but said the war was just beginning. âWe won a fantastic victory, but this does not mean that the case is over.â