Joost: My privacy is threatened

4 Oct 2013

Former Springbok heavyweight Joost van der Westhuizen will find out today whether he has succeeded in gagging a tell-all book about his love life.

Earlier this week the Pretoria High Court heard an urgent bid by Van der Westhuizen to stop the book Joost & Amor: Behind the Headlines from being distributed. He brought the action against its author, Gavin Prins, and the publisher, Random House Struik.

The book about his troubled marriage to singer and television personality Amor Vittone is believed to contain details Van der Westhuizen does not want divulged.

Prins, the deputy editor of Heat magazine, was a former friend of the couple but is said to have fallen out with them.

Van der Westhuizen - through his lawyer, Alwyn Rossouw - told the court that if the book were released his rights to life, privacy and dignity would be infringed and his health would suffer from the associated stress.

Van der Westhuizen was diagnosed with motor neuron disease in 2011 and given two to five years to live. He gave a medical report to the court to support his case.

Though Van der Westhuizen claims not to know what's in the book - because Prins refused to send him a draft - he was worried that it could be defamatory and would contain information about a sex tape that went viral in 2009.

A frail Van der Westhuizen, supported by his parents, was in court for the hearing.

Source: The Times, via I-Net Bridge

Source: I-Net Bridge

For more than two decades, I-Net Bridge has been one of South Africa’s preferred electronic providers of innovative solutions, data of the highest calibre, reliable platforms and excellent supporting systems. Our products include workstations, web applications and data feeds packaged with in-depth news and powerful analytical tools empowering clients to make meaningful decisions.

We pride ourselves on our wide variety of in-house skills, encompassing multiple platforms and applications. These skills enable us to not only function as a first class facility, but also design, implement and support all our client needs at a level that confirms I-Net Bridge a leader in its field.

Go to: http://www.inet.co.za