The Press Council of South Africa has turned down a Department of Communications (DoC) request to investigate the conduct of the Sunday Times newspaper, saying it has no powers to launch such an investigation.
The DoC had requested the council probe Sunday Times editor Phylicia Oppelt and her journalists, after spokesperson Wiani Ngobeni declared the DoC “flabbergasted” by allegations in the City Press newspaper of collaboration between the Sunday Times and the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party.
The war of words between the DoC and the paper intensified this month, with Ngobeni slamming the Sunday Times for distortion after it made claims communications minister Dina Pule was lying regarding her relationship with Phosane Mngqibisa and had spent public money on an overseas trip together.
South Africa’s Press Council, however, has decided investigating the validity of such claims is not within its remit, something which has been criticised by the DoC, which said the decision raised questions about the council’s ability to deal with malpractice in the press.
“The duty of journalists is to report news and to provide citizens with information that they have tested and which they believe to be accurate,” the statement said. “It is also the basic tenet of journalism that journalists should not reveal their confidential sources of information or disclose other material held for journalistic purposes.”
The department’s view is that Oppelt and her journalists violated the South African Press Code of ethics, Paragraph 3.1, which states the press should not “allow commercial, political, personal or other non-professional considerations to influence or slant reporting”. Ngobeni wrote an open letter to the Press Council chair Judge Phillip Levisohn on May 25 asking the council to investigate.
In response, however, the Press Council’s public advocate Latiefa Mobara said: “Your complaint refers to unethical conduct of Ms P Oppelt, editor of the Sunday Times. Unfortunately we are unable to deal with this complaint as the issue of unethical conduct by the editor is not covered by the Press Code. This matter can only be dealt with by the publication itself.”
The DoC in the statement said: “In October last year, the Press Council announced sweeping reforms to press regulations moving the press from self-regulation to voluntary independent co-regulation. The unethical conduct of Sunday Times editor and journalists represent an acid test for these reforms.”
