The deputy press ombudsman, Johan Retief, has ruled broadly in favour of the Mail & Guardian following a complaint by ANC Youth League spokesperson Floyd Shivambu.
Shivambu wrote to the office of the press ombud about a January 15 article headlined “ANC Youth League targets Mantashe“, which outlined plans by the league politically to isolate ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe.
Shivambu said the article had been concocted and that its author, Mandy Rossouw, “did not speak to anyone from the youth league”.
Retief pointed out that the story relied on anonymous sources, “a risky business” that requires that information be verified.
But he found that their comments were borne out by a raft of other newspaper stories. “Even if some of the reporting was the journalist’s interpretation, not all of it was,” Retief noted in his ruling.
Retief, however, reprimanded the newspaper for its failure to request official comment on the allegations from Shivambu, saying this was a breach of the requirement in the press code that “a publication should usually seek the views of the subject of serious critical reportage in advance of publication —”