The feelings of a highly placed official at Nissan SA were extremely hurt when a consultant called him a "typical f***ing Dutchman" and a "f***ing Vlok", and he wants his name cleared, the Pretoria High Court heard on Wednesday.
Johan Paul Kleynhans, a board member at Nissan SA, is claiming R200 000 in damages from Brian Read following a Sunday evening altercation outside the Woodhill Golf Estate clubhouse in October 2006. Both are residents of the luxury estate.
Read, in turn, is claiming R250 000 from Kleynhans, who he claimed called him a "k*****boetie" (too cosy with blacks) and a "soutie". Read said he did not mind being called a soutie, as he was actually proud of being one. He was, however, highly offended at being branded a "k*****boetie".
Acting Judge Lionel Sapire said that perhaps it was because he was from Joburg, but he did not understand the term "soutie". Read explained that it actually meant "salty penis".
"It means that your one foot is in England, the other in South Africa, and your private parts are hanging in the sea," he explained.
Read further said: "I am proud to be called a soutie, but take strong exception to being called a k*****boetie."
The claim by Kleynhans and counter-claim by Read were sparked by a bag someone forgot in the clubhouse, dubbed the Monkey Club.
Kleynhans said he was having a few drinks with friends after a round of golf. He was the last player to leave the club and paid the R2 000 bill, which included a R200 tip for the waiter, Maestro Morake. He claimed Morake brought him the bag in the parking lot and that Read was with the waiter.
He said Read insisted that the waiter should get a tip for bringing the bag to him, but Kleynhans told Read that he had already given him a R200 tip. Kleynhans said it was then that Read uttered the "hurtful words" to him. He also claimed that Read damaged the hinges of his car's back door by pulling it open.
"I literally shook … I thought he was going to assault me, and Maestro had to hold him back," Kleynhans said. He denied that he in turn called Read a "soutie" and a "k*****boetie".
Kleynhans said he was so shaken by what happened that it took him several days to calm down. "It certainly hurt my feelings. He called me a 'Dutchman' and I felt aggrieved."
Morake testified that Read, who had consumed three Jack Daniel's doubles that afternoon, became aggressive and told Kleynhans that he was going to "moer (hit) him".
Read did not dispute that he addressed those and other words at Kleynhans, but said it was in the heat of the moment.
He explained that he was having a few drinks with a prospective business partner. When the man left, he went back to pay his bill.
He was heading back to his golf cart parked outside, when Morake told him that someone had forgotten a bag in the clubhouse.
Read said that as it was Kleynhans's bag, he told Morake to take it to him, but said he should ask Kleynhans for a R2 "finder's" fee.
Kleynhans, he said, refused to pay the R2 and instead told him he was a "soutie" and a "k*****boetie".
Read also admitted calling Kleynhans a "f***ing c**t" at some stage, but added that he did not see this as an insult, as it was a "commonly used term in South Africa".
Judgment was reserved.
o This article was originally published on page 1 of The Star on August 19, 2009