Self-regulation for newspapers ratcheted up a gear last week with the inaugural meeting of the Press Council in Johannesburg. But the African National Congress (ANC) is also notching up its own pressure on the press. Comprising a panel of citizens and journalists, the Press Council was launched earlier this year to beef up the existing ombudsman in handling complaints about coverage. The system is a kind of fifth estate to check on the fourth.
With impeccable timing, Jacob Zuma arrived in London exactly seven years after the charges of a "conspiracy to harm the president" laid against three of Thabo Mbeki's putative rivals in April 2001. Seven years on, the new ANC leadership -- including one of the alleged conspirator Mathews Phosa, as party treasurer -- was welcomed warmly in London.
The Ginwala inquiry has turned down a request for access to submissions on suspended National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli, the inquiry said on Wednesday. "I have declined a request from Independent Newspapers that I make all submissions made to the inquiry available to them," said a statement issued on behalf of inquiry leader Frene Ginwala.
