/ 15 December 2011

News agencies deny spying on Mandela

News agencies who have set up cameras outside Nelson Mandela's home in Qunu say they are not spying on the former president: the cameras are off.

News agencies who have set up cameras outside Nelson Mandela’s home in Qunu insist they are not spying on the former president, saying the cameras are not switched on.

International news agencies who have set up cameras outside Nelson Mandela’s Eastern Cape home insist they are not surveilling the former president, saying the cameras are not switched.

The cameras have been in place for as long as six years, according to a report by the Times on Thursday.

The newspaper quoted Chieftainess Nokwanele Balizulu, who lives directly opposite Mandela’s home in Qunu, confirming that she had given permission for CCTV cameras to be installed at her house.

“I agreed to having those cameras there, but I’m not going to say anything else,” she said.

The daily said there had been at least three cameras for as long as six years on her property, which belong to the US-based Associated Press and UK news agency Reuters.

AP spokesperson Paul Colford told the Times: “They are not surveillance cameras. Along with other media, the AP has preparedness around Mr Mandela’s eventual passing.

“The AP cameras were not switched on and would only be used in the event of a major news story involving the former president.”

The Times said Reuters’s Southern Africa bureau chief referred queries to its London office. — Sapa