Stokvel story complaint

Regarding an article that appeared on the front page of the January 11, Daily Dispatch titled “ANC councillor embroiled in Stokvel scandal”.

In the article it was reported that a stokvel member called Thembinkosi Nyendwana reported the (incident) to me. It is not true, I don’t have any trace of such a report, message or a call record by such a person. It came to my attention through the local leadership of the ANC in the Ndlambe subregion and through the opposition parties who took it to social networks.

Furthermore, it was reported that my phone rang unanswered on Thursday. That may be true, however, I do not know the contacts of the Daily Dispatch in order to call back.

For courtesy, the journalist could have sent me questions in a text message. I perceive this to be against the ethics of journalism and the Daily Dispatch. For the record, matters pertaining to the behaviour and code of conduct of ANC councillors are handled by the regional secretary of the ANC.

In this case, it is comrade Johannes Hobbs. He could have presented the organisational position on the matter should he have been contacted by the journalist. That the journalist mentions my name without putting in extra effort to reach me and get my views and that of the ANC, in my opinion, lowers the credibility of both the journalist and the newspaper. – Scara Njadayi, regional chairperson, Sarah Baartman Region via e-mail