‘You have created a jungle’
The article “Reserve Bank, Absa slam protector”, September 15 written by Phillip de Wet and published in the Mail & Guardian is a piece of gutter journalism.
Black First Land First (BLF) expects no fairness from our ideological foes, including the M&G. We wear the insults thrown at us as a badge of honour. We are at war with white monopoly capital while whiteowned media, including the M&G, has a duty to defend its owners by any means necessary.
We won’t ask that the M&G observe basic journalistic ethics such as hearing the other side of the story. You published a piece of fake news without seeking any comment from those you sought to vilify. We accept this unfair treatment for ourselves, but we have to protest profusely the uncalled-for denigration of the office of the public protector. Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane has ruled that Absa must pay back the money it stole from the public and, because of this, you have chosen to use every trick in the book to discredit her.
First, your headline on the front page would not pass the judgment of even the most tamed of press ombudsmen. The front-page headline, “How the public protector jumps when BLF calls”, is misleading and designed to harm the reputation of the public protector. The story reveals no “calls” but a meeting and an official submission by the BLF. I’m sure you will hide behind the ruse of figure of speech to justify the deliberate lies you write.
If the M&G had sought our comment, we would have clarified that, in fact, the final report of the public protector is at variance with our submission. The BLF believes that Absa and other beneficiaries of the illegal “lifeboats” didn’t pay one cent back. Our calculations suggest closer to R10-billion has to be paid back. Your journalist didn’t even read our submission, which his agent in the office of the public protector could have made available on demand.
There is the truth, which the M&G and other organs of white monopoly capital keep hiding from the unsuspecting public. The hostility of former public protector advocate Thuli Madonsela towards the BLF was political. Madonsela did everything in her power to protect white monopoly capital, in particular Johann Rupert, who is directly implicated in the R26-billion theft from the South African Reserve Bank.
The proof of the role Madonsela played as defender of white monopoly capital corruption is in the thank you plum job she secured at the University of Stellenbosch where Rupert is chancellor. Are you joining the dots? We believe this is not a coincidence.
If our media retained a modicum of the objectivity we enjoyed a few years ago, we would demand an apology, which is owed to the public protector, for the slander you published. But today, even such basic human decency is not possible. The M&G is doing the dirty work of white monopoly capital diligently and in the process has thrown journalism ethics out of the window.
You have created a jungle, hopefully you will be able to live with wild beasts. We are ready for the long haul.