Malema sides with Duarte for putting journalist in ‘miserable little DA corner’

Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema came out in support for a tweet from the ANC’s Tony Yengeni on Tuesday night. The ANC National Executive Council (NEC) member expressed the view that he “fully” supports ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte after her angry rant against eNCA journalist Samkele Maseko was caught on camera.

According to Yengeni, Duarte put Maseko “into his miserable DA little corner”, a view apparently co-signed by Malema.

Duarte herself made claims about the eNCA’s supposed support for the Democratic Alliance (DA) during her rant, when she said that the station “followed” the DA’s slogan in the run-up to the 2016 municipal elections.

“You call me me a bully but you are the worst bully I’ve ever come across. I’ve never met anyone as arrogantly disposed as you are and you want to defend freedom of speech you’ve never fought for.

“And you don’t defend freedom of speech because your particular TV station has decided the direction it will go on as it did in 2016 you followed the DA slogan of ‘vote for change’,” she said.

Picture: Screenshot.

Duarte lashed out at Maseko at a press conference on Tuesday.

She labelled him “the worst bully I’ve ever come across”, said he was “arrogantly disposed” and accused him of believing he is “the lord of media”.

South African National Editors Forum (Sanef) council member Chris Louw told eNCA he was “quite stunned” at Duarte’s rant.

In a statement released by Duarte’s office later that afternoon, the ANC said it “has noted the one sided and biased story given by the eNCA on the interaction between Mr Samkelo Maseko” and Duarte.

This was presumably in reaction to eNCA’s coverage of the event after Duarte’s rant had gone viral on social media.

READ MORE: UPDATE: Duarte hits back at eNCA after her rant at ‘arrogantly disposed’ journalist

“At the beginning of the briefing, the DSG [Duarte] explained that she would only read the media statement, but if there are any questions outside the statement, these should be referred to the ANC Acting National Spokesperson,” the statement reads.

“After DSG finished reading the media statement, eNCA reporter, Mr. Maseko engaged in an unacceptable and unprofessional outburst.

“The DSG has requested a meeting with the editorial team of eNCA and the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef).”

The statement concludes that Duarte “reiterates her commitment to freedom of the media and editorial independence which has been championed by the ANC for many years.”

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