Letters,+SACP+GS+B+Nzimande+and+Spokesperson+M+Maleka,+C+Press

City Press, Johannesburg, 07/10/2006 18:20 - (SA)
=City Press and editor should apologise=

Because of Mathatha Tsedu’s “Time for Mbeki to speak up” piece (City Press, October 1), I’m convinced the paper has jettisoned any pretence towards fair, balanced and informed reporting on alliance matters.

Like all embedded journalism, it is extremely partisan, masters smear and slander, has a habit of occasionally telling lies, and thrives on stories largely based on faceless, anonymous sources. It is in fact quite striking that in Tsedu’s unusually lengthy article, there is not a single credited source. What kind of journalism is this?

He claims that I once took my whole family to sit in Parliament’s gallery expecting an announcement by President Mandela that I was to be appointed a minister or a deputy. For the record, never during the time I was an MP, was I promised or offered any cabinet position by President Mandela. Nor did I have any such expectation. At no stage, therefore, would I have taken my family to Parliament anticipating such an appointment.

Tsedu’s faceless sources claim that when Sibusiso Bhengu was about to retire he recommended to Mandela that I be appointed in his place. Any informed editor, who cares to do some intelligent research, will know that both Mandela and Bhengu retired at the same time in 1999, and it was President Mbeki’s, and not Mandela’s, responsibility to appoint a new Cabinet.

If Tsedu and the City Press want to retain any semblance of credibility they should apologise.

I have also been under the impression that one basic principle of professional journalism is to double-check one’s facts, especially with the people involved. Tsedu never bothered to call me, or any member of my family, to check his facts or at the very least to get our response. This is gutter journalism, which, after all, is a key feature of embedded journalism.

It is clear that Tsedu was using his article, under the pretext of posing challenges to President Mbeki, to attack leaders of the ANC’s allied organisations for the principled stances taken in support of Jacob Zuma.

In fact, it is a devious way of trying to reduce such principled organisational support into career ambitions and personal egos.

SACP general-secretary**
 * BLADE NZIMANDE

=Stop writing bad stories about Zuma=

The article by Mathatha Tsedu, “Time for Mbeki to speak up” (City Press, October 1), sent shivers down my spine.

A respected editor of a reputable newspaper has opted to put not only his reputation but also City Press’s at stake by using the platform to propagate hatred against comrade Jacob Zuma and the organisations that have shown support for him.

What Tsedu doesn’t know, for he has no knowledge of how the alliance operates, is that meetings are not about boosting the egos of individuals, as he wants us to believe, but about co-ordinating the alliance programme and directing our revolution.

Tsedu doesn’t know, and he would not know for he is not a member of the ANC, how Cabinet appointments are handled. It is a lie that comrades are promised appointments and later somebody can change the promise. The ANC does not operate that way.

In cahoots with his faceless sources, Tsedu seeks to reduce discussions and decisions of the central committee of the South African Communist Party (SACP), especially on the issue of Zuma, to a personal grudge between President Thabo Mbeki and our general-secretary, Blade Nzimande. This is a total disrespect of the collective wisdom and leadership of the SACP.

Tsedu had previously been engaged in an exercise to paint Zuma as a rapist and corrupt until court proceedings dealt a major blow to his campaign.

It is important that our journalists, at least those who want to be respected, desist from writing stories on the basis of rumours and subjective hatred for individuals, especially Zuma.

SACP spokesperson**
 * MALESELA MALEKA

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