Zille’s move against Cape Times slammed

Sanef, ANC fume over provincial government’s call to cancel subscriptions

THE SOUTH African National Editors Forum (Sanef) said yesterday it was appalled by the Western Cape government’s call for all provincial departments to stop subscribing to the Cape Times.

“Sanef finds it appalling that the executive committee of the Western Cape government, led by a former journalist, Ms Helen Zille, interferes at this level in the affairs of provincial department heads, who should have the freedom to choose which news mediums they find useful or not,” Sanef chairman Mpumelelo Mkhabela said.

In a letter to all department heads, director-general Bert Gerber issued a directive for the departments not to renew their subscriptions or start subscriptions with the paper.

“Cabinet has discussed, with concern, the ongoing decline in the quality of reporting in the Cape Times. As we get newspaper cuttings every day, Cabinet considers it to be fruitless expenditure to renew Cape Times subscriptions,” Gerber wrote.

Mkhabela said the matter could have been handled differently.

“If the Western Cape government has an issue with the quality of content in the Cape Times, they should address it with the editor of that newspaper or through complaints to the office of the Press Ombudsman, and not by effectively calling for a government boycott of the Cape Times.”

Sanef’s management committee intended to send a letter of protest to the Western Cape government. It called for the decision to be rescinded.

ANC national spokesman Zizi Kodwa said the party was shocked by the “shameless actions of the DA to censor the Cape Times”.

“This deplorable behaviour is a direct assault on the freedom of speech and media freedom that the DA continues to pretend that it promotes and defends. For some time now the DA has brazenly attacked the Independent Newspapers group, to which the Cape Times belongs, accusing it of being pro-ANC – all in an effort to ensure that only voices sympathetic to the DA and its cause are heard in society.”

But Premier Helen Zille said the provincial government had done nothing wrong.

“No newspaper has the right to demand that anyone subscribes to it. Everyone, including governments, make informed consumer choices.”

The provincial cabinet had taken a unanimous decision not to renew its subscriptions, and this in no way threatened press freedom. “Is Sanef suggesting that if we, as government, get poor service from a caterer (for example) that we should not switch to another service provider? Must we rather lay a complaint at the consumer council and continue using an inferior service provider?”

Zille said newspapers had no special product status for consumers. “Publishers can publish what they like, readers can read what they like. That seems to me a logical starting point in an open society.”

Lutfia Vayej, group executive: marketing and communication at Independent Media, said: “While we respect any reader or organisation’s right to choose to consume the publication of their choice for whatever reason, the manner in which this directive from Helen Zille’s provincial government cabinet has been issued, is an unprecedented abuse of power and completely unacceptable.”

Vayej said all the editors at Independent Media were open to engagement with their readers and subscribers. “It is a pity that Zille and her officials did not use this opportunity before embarking on their decision, which we believe goes against the promotion of a free press.” – Sapa and Staff Reporter