Independent hits back at ‘hatchet job’

INDEPENDENT Media responds to Biznews’s attack on its executive chairperson:

Once again, without provocation, Ed Herbst continues to beat the same drum in trying to rubbish the reputation of Dr Iqbal Survé, Independent Media and the Sekunjalo Group, in his latest Biznews hatchet job.

This blatant propaganda is fake news at its best, which cannot be taken seriously by any reasonable person.

It is ludicrous that Herbst fuses tired, old and new propaganda in his ongoing attempt to discredit Dr Survé.

The cosying up of BizNews, Daily Maverick, Media24, Cape Messenger and the Media Online, in their ongoing attempts to malign Dr Survé, Sekunjalo and Independent Media, is a smack in the face of the facts.

Once again BizNews, run by Alec Hogg, who lives in London, is running a piece with flagrant disregard for the facts.

Author of the piece, Ed Herbst, should be ashamed of himself for flogging a dead horse, using it to punt the Daily Maverick’s upcoming event, and for gleefully asking if Dr Survé has the guts to be a participant.

For the record, Daily Maverick was advised soon after approaching Dr Survé to participate that he would

This blatant propaganda is fake news at its best, which cannot be taken seriously

be unable to do so, due to another commitment.

The fact that Daily Maverick has not corrected this in their marketing material is no fault of Dr Survé’s, and they have been asked to correct it.

Herbst clearly needs something else to fixate upon.

This obsession with Dr Survé and his business interests is causing him to lose the plot.

Why would anyone continually search for evidence on his relationship with Tata Mandela, which he uses as the focus of his piece, and try to connect it with the DM event?

Hogg, his team of resentful former Independent reporters and Herbst, surely have better things to write about.

Instead of writing propaganda against a media house which is owned by a black person, intent on driving transformation in the media industry.