MOODLEY APOLOGY

THE Sunday Times apologises to Kuben Moodley for unfairly calling him a “Gupta pal” in a headline on August 14 2016.

Following a hearing by the Press Ombudsman, we also apologise for not having asked Moodley about his relationship with the Gupta family and with Mark Pamensky; the amount of R380-million which his company stood to gain from a deal with the SABC; and the expansion of the scope of the deal.

Press Ombudsman Johan Retief, sitting with two independent panellists — Mahmood Sanglay, representing the press, and public representative Peter Mann — reprimanded us for reporting that the SABC’s executive committee had approved a deviation from normal tender processes by appointing Moodley’s company, Lornavision, a day after it got its tax clearance. It was in fact a week after it got its tax clearance.

The article “‘Gupta pal’ in R380m SABC licence-fee deal” concerned a debt-collection deal between Lornavision and the public broadcaster.

Moodley, a former adviser to Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane, was at pains to distance himself from the Gupta family in his complaint to the ombudsman.

The Sunday Times asked the ombudsman to refuse to entertain the complaint on the basis that Moodley was later linked to the Guptas in the public protector’s State of Capture report. The report named him in connection with the purchase of Optimum Coal Holdings by the Guptas’ company, Tegeta.

However, the panel found it did not have grounds to state categorically that Moodley tried to mislead it and gave him the benefit of the doubt.

The panel dismissed complaints that we did not give Moodley a right of reply, that we did not properly reflect his response and that we did not interview Moodley’s business partner, Frans Basson.

The panel said: “We do not agree that the nub of the story conveyed the impression that Moodley was involved in corruption — [the reporter’s] reporting was largely accurate and justifiable.”

Visit: www.presscouncil.org.za for the full finding.