source
Anthony Heard
GEORGE heard covered Parliament for the Rand Daily Mail. He published a remarkably accurate account of the national Budget two days before it was delivered. I have never been able to find out from whom George got the information, although I have suspicions. The forecast was too accurate to have been totally unassisted. I think he was given some figures by an official and did the rest himself. He kept the secret.
The Mail story created a cause celebre. A magistrate was appointed under the Criminal Procedure Act to hold a special inquiry and to force George to reveal his source. He refused even to take his place in the witness box, maintaining that he was not going to disclose anything. So the magistrate sentenced him to eight days in prison for contempt of court.
George would pace the floor at night, under pressure to give in. But he refused, with his journalistic wife supporting him. Facing jail, he lodged an appeal and this was heard in the Cape Supreme Court in April 1937.
Important issues were at stake. The case raised the question of whether journalists had the right to be silent. It also touched on the constitutional issue of whether British statutes covering such matters as official secrets were applicable in South Africa – a country which had become a full- fledged dominion while still technically under the British crown.
The appeal was lost in the Cape court. The Appellate Division in Bloemfontein was now the only avenue available to George. But before the case could go to Bloemfontein, the government discharged the committal order. In other words, George was let off and he never went to jail. People flocked to him with confidential information, knowing he could be trusted.