Journalists covering Pagad’s campaign against gangsters have found themselves staring down the barrels of guns, reports Jacquie Golding-Duffy
Journalists are once again being targeted, as the war in the Cape Flats continues between the Muslim community group, People against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad) and gangs.
In the 12 days following the shooting and torching of Hard Livings gangster leader, Rashaad Staggie, one reporter and four photographers have been injured.
A reporter from Die Burger in Cape Town suffered a gunshot wound in his arm and the newspaper’s photographer suffered shrapnel wounds to his lower leg. The other two photographers are freelancers and details of their injuries are unknown.
Several journalists, photographers and cameramen claim to have been openly threatened at a press conference hosted by Pagad. Some Muslim journalists have also allegedly received anonymous phone calls from people who purport to be Pagad members, warning them about stories they have written or are planning to write.
Says one South African Broadcasting Corporation journalist, who refused to be named for fear of her life: “I believe they will do it. Pagad will not hesitate in shooting us. We were openly told at a Pagad press conference that if we didn’t do stories which were favourable and sympathetic towards their cause, then we better watch out. We were told that we will be regarded as part of the criminals and will be targeted.”
Another SABC cameraman had a gun held to his head, but refused to speak to the Mail & Guardian. His colleague says she finds it “disturbing” that neither the government or any press unions have spoken out against the groups targeting journalists. “For days the media have been under death threat and no one, but no one has come out against this.”
South African Union of Journalists (SAUJ) national organiser Dudley Moloi says the union was not informed of the death threats against journalists and has, therefore, made no statement. However, the SAUJ is planning to make a statement about the injuries suffered by journalists, he says.
Reuters television senior producer and cameraman Jimi Matthews says the threats to journalists’ lives are “disturbing, but not unexpected.
“It is common that at scenes of conflict journalists become targets, especially when rival groups are frustrated. What is definitely scary is the open threats of violence against reporters, photographers and cameramen who are out there with no motive other than to do their jobs. It is disconcerting when guns are being waved at one in an effort to intimidate all reporters,” says Matthews
He says there exists a misconception of the role and function of the media by the general public. “People often want to dictate to journalists what they must write. People forget that journalists only report what they see and are not commissioned to do a story because it allows them to take sides. Journalists aim at writing balanced reports, while photographers and cameramen get the picture or footage required.”
Matthews says it’s harder for photographers and cameramen to blend in with the crowd as cameras are “very visible”. He says rumours, implicating photographers and cameramen with last week’s assassination of taxi driver Faizel Ryklief, are circulating.
According to Matthews, there are allegations that Ryklief’s assassination followed his identification from video footage and/or photographs.
Ryklief, allegedly a Pagad member, is believed to have been the target of a revenge attack by the gangsters, following the lynching of Staggie.
“It is a popular perception and an easy way out to put the blame on cameramen. We are then told by Pagad not to sell our photographs and video material to the gangsters. This is insulting to journalists who will never implicate themselves in such a ludicrous manner,” Matthews says.
He claims that cameramen and photographers are the focus of Pagad’s attention as there is a misconception that the cameramen and photographers are either assisting the gangsters and/or the police.
Matthews’s claims have been supported by several journalists the Mail & Guardian approached.
One reporter from a foreign news agency says reporters, photographers and cameramen have all come under enormous pressure, but admits there is a “misunderstanding” that the death of Ryklief was as a result of an identification from photographs and video footage.
“Photographers and cameramen seem to have the blame laid at their feet as people assume it is soley owing to their material that Ryklief was killed.”
There have been allegations by a reporter that during his interview with the brother of the assassinated Hard Livings gang leader, Rashied Staggie, he saw him rummaging through photographs which presumably were smuggled out of the Argus library.
“It was scary because there he was flipping through photographs which were stamped: Argus Company. It is difficult to say how he got the photographs, but anyone could have smuggled the photographs out ,” he said.
Chairman of the Freedom of Expression Institute, Raymond Louw, says he hopes journalists and photographers “will not bow to the demands of militants”, but “will uphold the traditions of their craft and continue to report in an accurate and balanced manner.
“Hopefully the community will respect journalists as observers doing their professional jobs.”
Louw says it is entirely up to reporters to decide whether they are going to cover a particular story and endanger their lives.
However, he says, it is “easy to pontificate from an armchair”, while reporters and photographers are out on the frontline.
“I respect their bravery out on the frontline as they perform their duty by getting the story to the general public.”
Cape Times photographer Benny Gool, whose photographs of the torching of the Staggie twin were splashed across the front pages of several national newspapers, is keeping a low profile. He refused to speak to the M&G for fear of his life and that of his family.
There are claims, however, that the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) has informed Gool that a price has been put on his head, but it is unclear whether it is the Hard Livings gangsters or Pagad members who want to assassinate him.
The Cape Times reporter who covered the story alongside Gool has apparently been pulled off the story by the newspaper’s editor.
Cape Times editor Moegsien Williams could not be reached for comment at the time of going to press.
Some journalists claim that their colleagues often resort to sensationalism by misconstruing the community’s efforts. Says one journalist: “It is not only the Muslims that are fighting the drug lords, but there are several Christians and people of different religious persuasions that support what Pagad is doing. It is sometimes unfortunate that when Muslims stand up, they are seen as Islamic fundamentalists.”
Earlier this week, Pagad threatened to call in the support of two militant Middle Eastern organisations — the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas organisations.
The support of the organisations would be sought unless the government and the police rid the Cape Flats of gangsters and drug barons, said the organisation’s leader, Muhammed Ali “Phantom” Parker.
Many journalists admit to being scared, with some deciding to forfeit a good story and get out while they are still ahead. Others have decided to hang in, because they feel they have to see the story through to the end. But none of the journalists, photographers or cameramen have expressed a gung-ho attitude; instead they are just attempting to do their jobs.