The SA National Editors' Forum condemns the attack on the SA
Broadcasting Corporation's SABC2 weather presenter Tshidi Diphoko and
the death threats against SABC political reporters Miranda Strydom and
Sophie Mokoena, according to a media release.
According to media reports Tshidi Diphoko was pistol-whipped and robbed of her belongings at gunpoint at her flat in Braamfontein, Johannesburg on March 22. A few days later a newspaper received an email apologising for the attack on Diphoko, saying “Sorry to Tshidi we mistaken her to Sophie Mokoena and Miranda Strydom (whom) we gonna killâ€ÂÂ.
Sanef has noted that the SABC has taken a serious view of the threats and has reported the incidents to the police. It has also undertaken to monitor the situation.
Sanef is deeply concerned about the safety of journalists, noting that 91 journalists were killed in the world last year and that so far this year, six have been killed all while carrying out their duties in the public interest. It also notes that a shot was fired at a newspaper editor as she slept at her home in Gauteng last year.
Sanef deplores this violent targeting of journalists — presumably for their reporting activities — and calls on the police to exert the utmost effort to find and arrest those responsible.
Issued by: SA National Editors' Forum (SANEF)
04 April 2008
For more comment please contact:
Henry Jeffreys – SANEF Deputy Chairperson: 082 556 8883
Raymond Louw – SANEF Media Freedom Sub-Committee Chair: 011 646 8790 / 082 446 5155
