EFF refuses to meet Sanef over attacks on journalists

In a statement on Tuesday, the SA National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) said they have been given the cold shoulder by the EFF.

They said the controversial party had declined a request from Sanef for a meeting to discuss the threats and intimidation levelled against journalists in the wake of inflammatory statements made by EFF leader Julius Malema.

It was reported that Sanef would urgently seek a meeting with the leadership of the EFF following threats made mainly to female journalists by Malema and other EFF leaders on social media and at various political rallies, Sanef had said on Saturday.

“Earlier this week, Malema named several journalists and called on EFF supporters to ‘deal with them decisively’,” Sanef said in a statement issued after its last council meeting for 2018 on Saturday.

“Following his [Malema’s] comments, we have seen some of the journalists physically accosted and abused on social media. One journalist was verbally threatened outside the venue of the Zondo commission, where Malema had made some of these threats. In another incident, a senior editor [Ranjeni Munusamy] was accosted by three men who shouted her surname and mocked her while she was out shopping,” Sanef said.

A series of steps would be urgently undertaken to stop unacceptable, inflammatory remarks by Malema and other EFF leaders. These incidents were just one example of a series of abusive comments and threats by politicians to journalists and could not be tolerated.

“There is a real danger as they filter beyond cyberspace and become physical threats. Criticism is part of democracy but hate speech and sexually abusive threats online and bullying are out of order and can endanger the lives of journalists. They also have a chilling effect in newsrooms, with specifically younger journalists feeling fearful and intimidated and thus withdrawing from critical reporting on politicians,” Sanef said.

EFF secretary general Godrich Gardee wrote to Sanef on Tuesday, saying the party’s schedule was “very tight and fully booked with pre-arranged meetings and activities up until the elections date”.

The election is expected to take place in May 2019.

EFF national spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, however, had earlier told at least two programmes on radio and national television that the EFF would be prepared to meet with Sanef.

After Sanef’s announcement on Saturday, Malema tweeted that he was prepared to meet “on condition you don’t bring racist things like this white young boy called Adriaan Basson”.

Basson is Sanef’s treasurer and would have formed part of the Sanef delegation to meet the EFF.

“While we acknowledge Malema’s right to criticise the media, we remain gravely concerned about the threats and intimidation of individual journalists – often women – who report critically on the EFF, and the chilling effect this may have in newsrooms. A meeting with the EFF leadership was the first step in Sanef’s response to these threats and we believed was absolutely essential before the elections,” Sanef said on Tuesday.

The forum said it would continue to seek legal advice on “remedies available to us to protect journalists from bullying and intimidation by politicians”.

“Our Council meeting resolved that journalists should feel free to leave press conferences or rallies by political parties if they feel under threat or intimidated. Further, we encourage all journalists to show solidarity and support colleagues under threat by also leaving press conferences and rallies.

“We further note that the EFF has decided to ban particular media organisations, such as the Sunday Times, from their press conferences. Previously we met with the EFF when they banned ANN7 to implore them to reverse the ban. We again condemn the decision to ban Sunday Times reporters.

“The gravity of these threats to our profession is highlighted by the Human Rights Council, which noted concern at ‘instances in which political leaders, public officials and/or authorities denigrate, intimidate or threaten the media, including individual journalists, which increases the risk of threats and violence against journalists and undermines public trust in the credibility of journalism’.”

They referenced a United Nations General Assembly resolution in 2017 when member states (including South Africa) unanimously condemned “all attacks and violence against journalists and media workers, such as torture, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrest and arbitrary detention, as well as intimidation, threats and harassment, including through attacks on, or the forced closure of, their offices and media outlets, in both conflict and non-conflict situations”.

Sanef called on “all supporters of media freedom to join us in speaking out against the continued bullying and intimidation of journalists”.

(Compiled by Charles Cilliers)

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