Staff at the SABC and Sowetan are accusing their managements of kowtowing to the ANC, report Marion Edmunds and Rehana Rossouw
Staff in the newsrooms of both the South African Broadcasting Corporation and Sowetan, the country’s largest daily, charge their independence has been compromised, and accuse management of “meddling” to curry favour with the African National Congress.
The SABC was this week slammed for earlier attempts to suspend journalist Carol Lane, a former police reservist and witness in the Magnus Malan trial, while Sowetan staffers are unhappy that their political staff’s work was checked by management, allegedly for “biased”
The SABC’s largest union, the Broadcasting, Electronic Media and Allied Workers’ Union (Bemawu), said the SABC board had asked Lane to take leave after ANC statements accusing her of masquerading as a journalist while being on the police payroll. The union charges it shows management tried to dance to the ANC’s tune.
A formal investigation into the affair will start today, when three senior SABC managers – — including Radio chief executive Govin Reddy — fly to Durban for a first meeting with Lane and her legal representatives.
Reddy, who heads the inquiry, countered that the SABC had acted in response to media inquiries about her having been listed as a police witness in the Magnus Malan murder trial — rather than the ANC statement. “The situation is unclear as nobody has done a thorough investigation yet.”
Bemawu spokesman Hans-Dieter Winckens said the union had lodged a grievance on Lane’s behalf but that the conflict might be resolved through the inquiry. Whatever the outcome, Bemawu will be demanding a “loud and clear” apology from the SABC.
Meanwhile, Sowetan reporters believe their editorial independence is being undermined after general manager Roger Wellsted drew political reporters’ clippings files recently and sent them to the paper’s chairman, Dr Nthato Motlana, for scrutiny.
Sources on the papers said it appeared the journalists’ work was being checked for political bias. Last Thursday, political staff met Wellsted and were told they were not above scrutiny and criticism. It appeared Sowetan’s editor, Aggrey Klaaste, was kept in the dark about the file search.
After Motlana took control of Sowetan in 1993, some staffers expressed unease at his high- profile membership of the ANC. However, in consultation with staff, a charter was drafted which guaranteed editorial independence.
A senior source on the paper said Wellsted was well aware of the perceptions of bias on the paper — he had commissioned market research which showed that 51 percent of the paper’s readers believed its political coverage was independent, while of the 30 percent which said it was biased, 92 percent believed it favoured the ANC.
Another journalist said the incident revealed clearly how much power Sowetan’s general manager believed he wielded. Wellsted is employed by Independent Newspapers on a management contract which was devised when the paper was sold to Motlana’s New Africa
‘The perception now is that Aggrey (Klaaste) is too weak to defend his turf. Why should junior reporters have to confront the general manager? It is an editor’s responsibility to protect his staff,” said the reporter.
A senior reporter said as far as he could ascertain, the complaint about Sowetan’s bias emanated from Independent Newspapers, and not the ANC. “We have running battles from time to time with the ANC over individual stories, but our staff have a good working relationship with
“We have people from all political persuasions on Sowetan’s staff, and they are all fully aware that our only role is to reflect the views of the entire society to the best of our
Klaaste did not respond to a request for comment on his reporters’ allegations.