Journalists at Parliament each received a notice on Wednesday warning them to vacate their offices within the Old Assembly and New Wing buildings by noon on Friday, or face eviction ”without further notice or delay”.
The eviction notices were hand delivered by a parliamentary official; most reporters operating out of the institution’s Press Gallery refused to sign for the document.
Efforts by Parliament’s administrators to move journalists out of the precincts to alternative offices — a block away, outside Parliament’s security perimeter — have been going on for well over a year.
Last week, in a letter sent to the Parliamentary Press Gallery Association (PGA), Parliament’s secretary Sindiso Mfenyana warned if journalists did not move then ”the State Attorney will be instructed to apply to the High Court for an eviction order without further notice or delay”.
The PGA — which represents journalists at Parliament — has strongly condemned the latest efforts to have its members evicted, saying this flies in the face of an agreement reached with the authorities last year.
”Parliamentary reporters have long resisted the secretary’s plan to move us out of the Parliamentary buildings to an unsafe building outside the immediate precincts, and we continue to oppose such a move as it will seriously hamper our work,” the PGA said in a statement earlier this week.
A senior parliamentary official was on Wednesday reported to have denied Parliament had an agreement with the PGA allowing its members to keep their offices within the complex.
Meanwhile, journalists are bracing for possible eviction on Friday, with many saying they will not be moved. – Sapa