PAC supports role of media

As South Africa today commemorates Black Wednesday, the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) has called on the United Nations (UN) to intervene in the disappearance of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

Black Wednesday commemorates 41 years since the National Party-led government banned The World and Weekend World and scores of journalists, including editor Percy Qoboza, as well as 19 anti-apartheid organisations.

Khashoggi, who went missing after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, is believed to have been killed in Turkey.

PAC spokesperson Kenneth Mokgatlhe yesterday paid tribute to the role of the media as “the pillar of any functional democracy”.

“The UN should help his family to appoint an ... independent investigation to find out what exactly went down, as the world deserves to know. We cannot be ruled by anarchy – people should account for their odious actions against other people,” he said.