Share

City Press apologises

accreditation

On August 30 2015, City Press published a story titled “ANC at risk of losing Mandela Bay”.

The story said President Jacob Zuma had addressed a gala dinner at the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium in which he said that if the party did not take drastic steps, it would lose the metro.

The presidency lodged a complaint with the office of the press ombudsman disputing the story. They pointed out that the president did not address a dinner and was in fact back in Pretoria by 4pm.

The ombudsman upheld the complaint and found that City Press was in breach Section 11.2 of the Press Code that states: “The press shall avoid the use of anonymous sources unless there is no other way to deal with a story. Care should be taken to corroborate the information.”

The ombudsman found City Press was inconsistent in its replies to his office, first stating that the comments were made at a lunch, and then that the comments were made a closed party session in the morning.

“Another glaring strike against the newspaper is that it had stated in its story that Zuma was sleeping over in Port Elizabeth until the Sunday “to take stock of the ANC’s problems in the region”. It hasn’t responded to the presidency’s assertion that by 4.30pm on the Friday, President Zuma was back in Pretoria,” the ombudsman found.

“The newspaper offered to give me the names of their sources on condition it would be for my eyes only. City Press is to be commended for showing that much confidence in the ombudsman.”

The ombudsman wrote that after receiving the names, he asked for the reporters’ notes.

“In the notes, there are entries about Zuma meeting the provincial leadership at the City Hall, which left me asking why the reporter was not writing his story from the notes. But more telling is that nowhere in the notes do the sources report on what Zuma said. He has recorded general discussions about the problems of the region,” the ombudsman found.

“The ANC’s Eastern Cape spokesperson Mlibo Qoboshiyane is the only person who is on the record in the story. He is quoted as saying the president and national leadership of the party were ‘naturally worried about the possibility of losing the metro to other parties’. He is also reported as saying the ANC would be launching an election strategy specifically for the Nelson Mandela Bay metro region.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that the City Press story was cobbled from snippets about what had happened in a behind-closed-doors meeting.”

He continued: “The harm to the presidency and to the ANC, however, is not as serious as it would have been had the newspaper written about problems that did not exist.”

The ombudsman ordered City Press to retract the story and apologise to the presidency. We hereby retract the story and apologise to the president.

We have further taken steps internally to minimise and avoid where possible the use of anonymous sources to minimise the recurrence of similar mistakes in the future. A new protocol regarding the use of anonymous sources has been drawn up, and we will strengthen our existing accuracy-check system. In addition, a workshop will be conducted on the better use of notes.

City Press has commissioned ethics and journalism professor Franz Krüger to study our systems and assess where we can strengthen them.

Middelburg’s Nkangala District Municipality

City Press also apologises to Middelburg’s Nkangala District Municipality (NDM) for failing to report its response to the journalist’s questions; for stating as fact the opinion that Makola’s anti-premier (Mr David Mabuza) stance saw Mr Charles Makola, a former ANC deputy chairman in Mpumalanga and NDM municipal manager, lose his job; for stating as fact that the NDM would have to fork out R9 million to settle the dispute; and for a potentially unbalanced and unfair article as a result of the above.

The NDM lodged a complaint with the press ombudsman about the story headlined “R9m tax bill for an ANC battle” (published August 29 2015).

Ombudsman Johan Retief found that City Press’ failure to report the municipality’s response led to an unbalanced and unfair story. Moreover, “[the] statement of fact that Makola’s anti-Mabuza stance ‘saw him fired from his job’ was merely an opinion and, according to the Press Code, should have been stated as such.

“The statement of fact that the Makola matter was costing the NDM R9 million was not presented as conjecture and it was contrary to the municipality’s response – that the costs did not exceed R8 million,” found the ombudsman.

He directed City Press to apologise to the Nkangala District Municipality and publish its responses, which we hereby do.

Visit presscouncil.org.za for the full finding, which includes the NDM’s response to the journalist.

How the Nkangala District Municipality responded

In response to an allegation that Makola was suspended before a forensic audit was commissioned and subsequently cleared him, after which he won his case at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), the municipality wrote: “The CCMA determination was based purely on the ascertainment of procedural fairness. Therefore, it is improper to suggest that there were no substantive reasons for Makola’s suspension and subsequent dismissal. The forensic audit mentioned nine instances where Makola had erred.”

The municipality responded that Makola was “dismissed for gross misconduct after he had been found guilty on seven charges, all of which related to administrative issues”.

The municipality said it spent R542 946 on the forensic investigation and for investigators to testify at the hearing, and just over R4 million on lawyers and advocates at the hearing.

The municipality said it dismissed Makola a month before his contract expired because it had a responsibility to discipline him. “Also, the amount did not exceed R8 million.

“Misconduct is a serious offence and it is therefore unreasonable to question whether the legal fees paid were value for money. Legislation prescribes action against financial misconduct and therefore it had to act accordingly. The NDM is not responsible for payment of Makola’s legal fees as per the CCMA award.”

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Do you believe that the various planned marches against load shedding will prompt government to bring solutions and resolve the power crisis?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes
20% - 103 votes
No
80% - 403 votes
Vote