Johannesburg - Two senior journalists have dragged newspaper publisher Media24 over allegations of defamation and demanded nearly a million rand in damages.
Media24, responding to Independent Media yesterday, confirmed that it had received a claim for R800 000 for defamation, which it said it was defending.
In court documents filed before the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, the two journalists accuse Media24 of having defamed them after the company suspended the duo in August last year on allegations that they allegedly extorted money from a person they were about to write a story about.
Media24 launched an investigation that cleared the two of any wrongdoing, but the two alleged in court papers that the company acted with malice when it suspended them without having any complainant or evidence of improper conduct.
Ishmet Davidson, CEO, Media24, confirmed that the company suspended two senior editorial employees at City Press on August 30, 2022, pending an internal investigation at the time into an alleged transgression of the company’s Code of Business Ethics and Conduct and the Press Code.
“At Media24, journalistic integrity and independence is non-negotiable, and it plays an incredibly important role in media’s contribution to our democracy. We do not compromise on this and will not tolerate any transgressions. Hence, we acted with immediate effect when the alleged misconduct was reported. The investigation and any potential subsequent actions followed due process, and we will not be commenting on the details,” said Davidson.
Davidson further said: “Once we received the final report, which indicated that the investigation did not warrant any actions, we immediately lifted the suspension of the two staff members.”
The company declined to comment when Independent Media asked whether or not the company had paid a settlement to the CCMA for unfair labour practice.
“Settlement agreements reached between parties at the CCMA are private and confidential, and we do not comment on confidential matters,” Davidson said.
Independent Media understands that the two started to be targeted soon after they went against the decision not to interview President (Cyril) Ramaphosa instead of publishing the Phala Phala allegations.
“One of the reporters was informed by Ramaphosa’s adviser that they had reached an agreement with City Press editors that the newspaper would focus on the president being a victim of rough spying,” said a source privy to the details.
According to sources, the two reporters worked on Ramaphosa’s story, and a presidential adviser once told one of the reporters that they had reached an agreement to run Ramaphosa’s interview instead of the Phala Phala scandal story written by the reporters who were later suspended.
The source said the reporters wrote Ramaphosa’s story because they were not part of the arrangement.
“Regarding the release of the report of the investigation, led by an independent team of a very senior editorial manager and a forensic investigator, Media24 would like to reiterate its response at the time (shared also with SA National Editors’ Forum): Media24 has a major responsibility to protect the privacy of our employees and honour confidentiality. It is not only a responsibility but also an obligation that we will not compromise on. Therefore, we will not be sharing the report or, as mentioned in our statement at the time, commenting on any details in any forum.
“Media24 does not comment on any individual stories nor journalists. However, we can confirm that the reported alleged transgression related to neither Ramaphosa nor Phala Phala,” Davidson said.
Both journalists declined to comment, saying the matter was before the court.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, was reached for a comment with regard to allegations made about the president’s adviser having an agreement with City Press, and he said he was not aware.
“I’m not aware,” said Magwenya.
The Star