Zuma vs Maughan: Sanef to picket outside high court on Wednesday

The South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) will hold a picket outside the Pietermaritzburg high court in Wednesday morning in support of News24 journalist Karyn Maughan.

Maughn is seeking to have the private prosecution matter, initiated against her by former president Jacob Zuma over the reporting of his medical reports, struck off the roll.

In a statement on Tuesday, Sanef said it supports Maughn as a journalist who was “just doing her job”.

That is something that Zuma and his legal team refuse to accept. Maughan’s constitutional rights have been abused by this private prosecution. Sanef supports the view that the charges have no merits and should be dismissed as such. We will continue to support Maughan, and we are hopeful of a positive outcome in court.

Media freedom is paramount in our constitutional democracy, hence there is a need to defend it all the time. Sanef will be outside the court on Wednesday to show solidarity with Maughan.
The statement added that various civil society organisations have also thrown their support behind Maughn and will join today’s picket.

Organisations are united against this targeting and attempt to intimidate Maughan. They see the importance of upholding media freedom and allowing journalists to freely do their work. Sanef will always speak out against anyone seeking to silence journalists. Sanef believes in the ability of our judiciary to spot any abuses of the courts, which we believe is what this private prosecution is doing.
Sanef notes harassment of women journalists

Sanef further noted the online attacks and harassment women journalists often receive.

Sanef notes the social media charter that was recently launched by the SA Human Rights Commission, which we hope would assist in deterring bullies that use social media for their nefarious agendas.
While we note the launch of the charter, we have unfortunately seen little action being taken by the prosecution authorities on this.