Sanef in Independent takeover bid

INDEPENDENT Media investigations unit has unearthed a plot by senior officials of the SA National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) and former members of the press council working with a minister and two former ministers to try to execute a hostile takeover of Independent Media.

Sources within this grouping – which revolves around several Sanef officials, senior former journalists and members of the Thuma Mina media group – said desperation and panic had set in as a result of perceived loss of support in the ANC for President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Sanef spokesperson Hopewell Hadebe yesterday denied claims that a letter sent to the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) was a move to lobby the asset manager to execute a hostile takeover of Independent Media.

“We just want Independent Media to return to the Press Council structure. We hope that the PIC will consider our plea to convince Sekunjalo as the major shareholder to return the media house to the Press Council structure in order to give it some form of protection from other formations.

Hadebe denied claims that Sanef’s move was influenced or motivated by any political structures. “We are hoping that the PIC will hear us out and, if not, we will go back to the drawing board.”

The grouping is astounded by the strength of the anti-Ramaphosa camp in the ANC and fear that, should a special conference be called, Ramaphosa could be recalled as the president of the ANC. Social media is abuzz with a list of possible Top Six from different camps within the ANC, all of which exclude Ramaphosa.

This group, which also includes PIC spokesperson Adrian Lackay – who is linked as an associate of Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan – sees the recent editorial changes at Independent Media as problematic for Ramaphosa, as the editors at Independent Media have exposed the CR17 campaign funding and the PPE corruption, especially by Ramaphosa spokesperson Khusela Diko.

The source referred to how media group exposed the PPE corruption, while other media sympathetic to Ramaphosa ignored it for almost two weeks until they were forced to report on the grand-scale corruption.

The grouping hatched a plan, which Independent Media has seen and has confirmed. There are individuals working to influence the State Capture Commission’s narrative against Independent Media by deliberately singling out the African News Agency (ANA) as a recipient of funding from State Security Agency (SSA).

ANA confirmed this and indicated that the funding was for services rendered. In what was unusual, the Zondo inquiry evidence leader, advocate Paul Pretorius, egged on Dr Sydney Mufamadi to disclose the name of ANA and even claimed that the director-general had given clearance for this.

Many who had an agreement with the SSA, including journalists from other media companies, did not have their names disclosed because the commission would first have to seek permission from those media houses and journalists. No such permission was sought from ANA.

The plan of the group was to immediately use journalists in the Thuma Mina group – especially from Daily Maverick and News24 – who together within the space of one week published nine articles in a synchronised manner on ANA and the SSA. Soon after the revelation at the state capture commission, Sanef released a preplanned statement without consulting Independent Media and falsely claiming that ANA was part of Independent Media and condemning Independent Media and its journalists.

Its editors responded forcefully; however, Sanef did not leave it there. According to sources within Sanef, there was deep division within the volunteer organisation of journalists when its executive wrote to the PIC, ostensibly to protect journalism.

In the letter to the PIC, Sanef was setting the ground for the PIC to intervene in Independent Media. Coincidentally, on the same day as the first letter, the PIC put in a summons against Independent Media.

The amateur way in which this was contrived is easy for the public to see.

Independent Media’s executive chairman and editors separately wrote a scathing response condemning the interference, as Sanef had no locus standi in this matter. The Independent Media investigation unit can reveal that a minister and former ministers did not involve just the PIC, but are also working with two banks as a last-ditch effort to shut down the accounts of the Sekunjalo Group, a shareholder of Independent Media – a move expected to render Independent Media unable to trade or operate.

The plan was to use the ANA-SSA matter as a pretext for the banks to shut down the accounts of Sekunjalo on the back of reputational exposure.

Over the next few weeks, Independent Media will expose more of the dirty tricks campaign by this grouping, which includes former members of the Press Council.

Independent Media’s executive chairman, Dr Iqbal Survé, said that the company would release a detailed statement on all these matters. “It is a disgrace, it is a blight on media freedom, it is a challenge and undermining our Constitution, freedom of press and I am glad the Independent Media investigations unit has been able to expose this. We will release a statement within the next week on this repeated exposure by politicians against our group.”