Mpumalanga Premier Ndaweni Mahlangu needs to substantiate his allegations against the media, the National Press Club in Pretoria said on Monday.
“The National Press Club has therefore requested Premier Mahlangu to urgently address the club and state his concerns in an open discussion forum,” chairperson Ben Rootman said.
He was reacting to a Sunday newspaper advertisement in which Mahlangu accused the media of stealing an audit report into alleged mismanagement in Mpumalanga’s department of health.
The premier was criticised last week when he gave controversial health MEC Sibongile Manana another portfolio and promoted Riena Charles, the head of the department, to the post of deputy director general of the province despite findings that the province’s R19-million Aids budget was grossly mismanaged.
Mahlangu also accused the press of sending black people “to jail for displaying any form of economic success”.
“In the last couple of months the press has been trying to send every black official to jail including the president himself,” he said.
Rootman said his club firmly believed freedom of speech and freedom of the media were cornerstones of democracy.
“The National Press Club does not believe that generalisations such as those by Premier Mahlangu regarding the operations of the media in any way contributes towards these elements of democracy,” he said.
“As a matter of fact Premier Mahlangu’s statements appear to be grave allegations that need to be urgently substantiated.” — Sapa
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