Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
South African Press Association - April 23, 2005
Antoinette Keyser, Johannesburg, South Africa
However, she had ignored this, she told the Johannesburg High Court.
She was responding to counsel Daniel Burger, appearing for the plaintiffs, who put it to the Independent Democrats leader that the three women had retracted their original statements about problems they had with a clinical Aids trial in which they were taking part.
The retractions were done in a report on an internal investigation by the University of Pretoria, under whose auspices the trial was conducted.
De Lille reacted sharply, saying she ignored the retractions because they were part of an internal investigation.
She had a problem with the university doing an investigation into itself, De Lille said.
Asked if she ever thought of contacting the plaintiffs after she had read the report, De Lille asked Burger why he was putting the onus on her.
"Why do you put the onus on me? They should have come to me and told me that they no longer needed me to pursue their complaints. They never did that."
She added that she did not pay much attention to the internal report because it did not deal with the issues about the clinical trial that she originally raised.
Earlier on Friday, De Lille testified that the women never asked her to keep their identities secret. She also said that the women were aware that their concerns about the trial would be raised publicly and that the media would be involved.
The women are suing De Lille, author Charlene Smith and the publisher of De Lille's biography for naming them and disclosing their HIV status in her book. They want R200 000 each from De Lille and Smith, and demand that their names be removed from the remaining copies of the book.
Exchanges between De Lille and Burger were not always amiable.
When Burger asked De Lille if there was a black man and any white person other than the two men accompanying her who were present during a meeting with the plaintiffs, she asked him when he was going to ask her what colour she was.
This remark solicited an angry response from Burger, forcing Judge Ivor Schwartzman to intervene.
De Lille also angrily told Burger "I am reading it", when he referred her to a certain document in the case file.
The case continues on Monday, when De Lille will face more cross-examination by Burger.
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