“Yes, we do have [ANC members]. We have ministerial representatives who have written down that they are ANC-associated. They make no bones about their political affiliation,” he said.
Pressly said the club was a platform for any member, regardless of position or party, to exchange opinions and ideas in the spirit of a free press and freedom of speech, conscience and association.
“We are not a press conference or press briefing forum.”
ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu criticised the club on Monday for allowing politicians membership, saying it could not be regarded as a neutral ground for parties that had no right to be there.
He was responding to the spat that erupted when Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson protested about speaking at a press club breakfast on Friday, in the presence of DA MP Pieter van Dalen. Van Dalen is a member of the club.
Symptomatic anomaly
She apparently believed he wanted to use the opportunity to continue a disagreement they had during her budget vote speech on Thursday.
According to her adviser Rams Mabote, the minister had been under the impression she was addressing journalists, not politicians. She told the club that if one political party was there, other parties should also be present.
Van Dalen agreed to leave so the audience would not be denied the opportunity of hearing her speak.
Mthembu said the ANC was disturbed that a public representative for a political party was a member of the club.
“This anomaly is symptomatic of an institution that is founded on questionable grounds, given the fact that generally the membership of a press club is a preserve of professionals in the media space, who are expected to be objective and non-partisan when it comes to party politics.”
In Business Dayeditor Peter Bruce’s column on Monday, he defended the move by Joemat-Pettersson to refuse to speak.
He also accused press clubs of extending membership to collect more revenue.
“Press clubs should be for journalists and should be run by them. Money is a problem, but that isn’t ever best overcome by easing up on the core principle,” he said.
Club membership
Pressly said it was false to say the club’s membership policy was based on revenue.
“Our fees are so low that making money from them is impossible. We run at a loss every month. If it weren’t for the sponsorship of various businesses, we would have closed down years ago,” he said.
The sponsorship money was largely used for bursary programmes.
The Cape Town Press Club has more than 500 members, of which 133 are business people and 125 journalists. About 18 people are registered as politicians, including city managers and political advisers.
The club planned to put its membership policy up for discussion at an annual general meeting this month or next month.
It said that excluding politicians from membership would not necessarily have changed what happened on Friday, since members were allowed guests and these guests could include politicians.
“No previous politician ‐ from Jacob Zuma to Tokyo Sexwale to Malusi Gigaba and Helen Zille ‐ has had an issue with this. All have spoken to the press club with other politicians present,” Pressly said.
“… [F]or 36 years we have had no such incident or demand from any speaker to exclude a member of the audience.” — Sapa