An interview with Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya has been altered
with defamatory content and posted on the social media platform YouTube, writes Sashni Pather in The Times.

The interview with Makhanya revolved around the newspaper’s reporting on allegations about controversial Health Minister Manto Tshabalala- Msimang.

It was originally posted on The Times multimedia portal last week.

It has been altered to include the barking of baboons and images of monkeys in “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil” poses.

It also includes images of Tshabalala-Msimang and ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma.

The Times has written to YouTube’s legal team calling for the immediate removal of the video, uploaded by “ANCBC”.

The distorted video includes the entire interview with Makhanya, including The Times logo and credits.

Gregor Rohrig, The Times deputy multimedia editor, said: “The video is a direct infringement of copyright, [and includes] defamation and hate speech.”

Rohrig urged YouTube to remove the video as it misrepresented the original production .