The Mail & Guardian has once again been prevented from publishing a major story — this time by the state. Hours before its print deadline on Thursday afternoon the M&G received a letter from the Office of the State Attorney, on behalf of the Scorpions, warning that if the newspaper failed to undertake not to publish a story relating to the Selebi-Agliotti scandal, an urgent interdict would be sought.
The report was the latest instalment in our long-running series of exposés detailing the links between police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi; murdered mining magnate Brett Kebble; the man accused of his murder, Glenn Agliotti; and organised crime.
The letter said: ”We call upon you to give an undertaking not to publish either the fact that the Mail & Guardian is in possession of [certain evidence which the M&G may not identify] or any of the content of [the evidence].”
The letter came so close to our print deadline that it was effectively impossible for a court to consider the application before the presses began to roll. As a result we were compelled to withdraw the story, which would have led this week’s edition.
This is the second time the Scorpions have threatened an interdict against the M&G. The first was in May, when we first revealed Selebi’s friendship with Agliotti, and a network of shadowy figures surrounding Kebble. We suggested that the elite unit was looking into Selebi as part of its probe into Kebble’s affairs.
In June the M&G was barred from publishing allegations of tender rigging at the Post Office for a week, after a similar last-minute interdict application.
In October, the South African Broadcasting Corporation took a similar route, but failed outright when it tried to keep the M&G Online from publishing a report on the blacklisting of certain analysts and commentators by the broadcaster.
Last year we were stopped by the Johannesburg High Court from publishing an instalment in our Oilgate investigation that revealed payments by oil trader Sandi Majali to the brother of then minerals and energy minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, and for renovations to the house of Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya.
The new gag bid comes against the backdrop of a Cabinet statement last week threatening to crack down on leaks about the progress of the Kebble murder investigation from law-enforcement agencies.
Also, the National Director of Public Prosecutions, Vusi Pikoli, on Thursday sent a letter to news editors complaining about the conduct of the media in reporting on the ”Kebble matter”. He said recent coverage had had the effect of distracting the Scorpions from their work, and undermined public faith in its ability to conduct investigations.
In Friday’s M&G, read our full report on the interdict attempt, as well as the letter from the Office of the State Attorney (with a few blacked-out paragraphs)