Media 24, publisher of the Sunday newspaper City Press, has hired an independent legal investigator to look into claims made in The Star on Friday that City Press editor Vusi Mona was linked to a company being paid millions to manage Mpumalanga’s scandal-clad image.
Mona is a director of one of three companies trading as Rainbow Communications and Rainbow Kwanda Communications, responsible for advertisements, marketing, public relations and media liaison for Mpumalanga.
The company recently placed a controversial advertisement in the City Press, accusing the media of lying, bribery and intimidation. It also accused the media of stealing three audit reports that outlined corruption in the Mpumalanga health department.
Media 24 said while it acknowledged reports of a possible conflict of interests between Mona’s editorial role and his other activities, it would not be making any further comment until the independent investigation into the affair had been completed.
”Mona denies any improper conduct. He is at present on paternity leave and offered to temporarily withdraw from the editorship of City Press. He proposed a full investigation and offered his complete cooperation,” the publisher said in a statement.
Other allegations against Mona published in The Star include claims that he and his business partner Dr Moss Mashamaite secured a R395 000 contract from the Mpumulanga Parks Board for Rainbow to improve the board’s public image.
The six-month contract allegedly involved a planned public relations campaign that included negotiating with journalists, pitching stories to the media, booking advertising space in newspapers and booking press events.
However it is alleged that Rainbow Communications might also have been paid by the Mpumulanga government for work it did not do. The office of Premier Ndaweni Mahlangu is alleged by The Star to have paid Rainbow R3 686 586 for billboard displays and advertisements on buses, taxis and in a number of publications that have not appeared or have not even been booked. – Sapa