The Sowetan newspaper apologised to City Press editor Ferial Haffajee on Thursday for publishing an insulting column.
“In his latest column, [Eric] Miyeni crossed the line between robust debate and the condonation of violence,” said Sowetan and Sunday World general manager Justice Malala and Avusa editor-in-chief Mondli Makhanya in a statement on page 15.
Titled, “Sorry, Ferial and All”, the pair apologised not only for the column, but also for their slow public response to the saga.
Miyeni’s column, “Haffajee does it for white masters”, appeared in the daily on Monday.
He wrote that “in the 80s she’d [Haffajee] probably have had a burning tyre around her neck”.
“Who the devil is she anyway if not a black snake in the grass, deployed by white capital to sow discord among blacks?”
City Press last week reported about African National Congress Youth League president Julius Malema’s trust, which he allegedly uses to bankroll his lavish lifestyle.
Miyeni, who supported Malema in a radio interview this week, was fired by the Sowetan for his personal attack on Haffajee.
Malala and Makhanya said: “The necklacing of people during the dark days of apartheid was condemned by all progressive forces in our country.”
Miyeni’s column went against the Sowetan newspaper’s values of “ubuntu-botho [humanity and humaneness]”, the pair said.
On Wednesday, the paper announced that its acting editor Len Maseko had resigned after accepting “full responsibility for the publication of the column”, even though he was not at work on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
“We have instituted disciplinary proceedings against those who allowed the column to appear in the form that it did,” said Malala and Makhanya.
“Deep hurt has been caused not only to Miss Haffajee but to the wider South African public by the publication of this column.
“For this we apologise unreservedly to Ms Haffajee and to all South Africans.”
Maseko took up the reins at the Sowetan in a temporary capacity earlier this year, taking over in turn from Thabo Leshilo. Mpumelelo Mkhabela, previously the editor of Daily Dispatch, will now helm the newspaper. Avusa’s parliamentary head Brendan Boyle will take over at the East London newspaper, Avusa said in a statement on Wednesday, bizcommunity.com reported.
Double standards
Miyeni meanwhile called for Avusa to fire Makhanya, citing double standards.
“If Avusa is dismissing Len Maseko … it should also dismiss Mondli Makhanya, the boss,” he said.
“Mondli Makhanya should have been fired for publishing the controversial column that got David Bullard fired from the Sunday Times,” said Miyeni.
Bullard was sacked after an outcry over a column about an uncolonised Africa, which was perceived as racist.
“There is no legal proof of any wrongdoing with regards to my Sowetan column, he said.
“For that reason, nobody, including me, should have been fired by Avusa for it,” he said.
Instead of being fired after the Bullard matter, Makhanya was promoted to editor-in-chief, said Miyeni.
“He is the one who taught Avusa editors, by example, that you do not have to do your editorial duties to get ahead at Avusa.
Legal advice
On Wednesday, Haffajee said she was seeking advice on what to do about Miyeni’s description of her as a “black snake” who might have been necklaced during the apartheid era.
Necklacing involves pushing a rubber tyre soaked in petrol over a person’s head and shoulders and setting it alight, leading to a slow death by burning.
It was commonly associated with the murder of black people accused of collaborating with apartheid-era security forces, but is still recorded in South Africa in acts of vigilantism.
Haffajee did not know yet whether she should go to court over the matter, or to the press ombudsman, but said she felt she “must do something about this”. – Sapa