Attacks on journos ‘a big concern’

Published Apr 23, 2015

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Johannesburg - The South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) has expressed outrage over five incidents of police, taxi driver, public and security personnel abuse against journalists.

On Tuesday, Star photographer Matthews Baloyi had to be escorted out of Jeppestown, Joburg, just before a raid by the military and police, after residents saw him raise his camera.

The group threatened to beat him and other journalists, blaming them for the Sunday Times pictures depicting Emmanuel Sithole being stabbed to death in Alexandra.

Also on Tuesday, a reporting team from the Daily Sun covering an attack in which two buses were burnt in Nyanga, Cape Town, were assaulted by so-called amaphela (cockroaches) taxi drivers.

A group of men armed with bricks surrounded the reporter and photographer and searched them and their car when they found them taking photos at the scene.

The photographer’s camera was smashed and the group verbally threatened the pair, telling them to drive off if they didn’t want to die, before pelting the vehicle with stones.

On April 15, a police officer in Jeppestown forced a 702 reporter to hand over his cellphone after the reporter had filmed police action against the looters. The officer deleted the journalist’s pictures before handing back the cellphone.

On April 8, a Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) security guard prevented a journalist from the Paarl Post community newspaper from taking pictures of a train derailment.

The journalist was taking pictures from the side of the road, when the guard ran towards him and stopped him. The newspaper’s editor has lodged a complaint with Prasa.

A day later, a journalist from the Pretoria Rekord was detained for several hours by Tshwane metro police and forced to delete images he had taken after the officers had stopped a motorist.

The journalist saw the motorist, who had apparently been arrested for reckless driving, being manhandled by the metro police officers.

One of the policemen tried to force him into the back of a police van.

He was released hours later after his pictures were deleted and a senior member of the Rekord’s editorial staff had intervened.

“Sanef is extremely concerned at the conduct of the police, metro police and security officers involved in these instances of the abuse of media freedom.

“It is contrary to the regulations in the police standing orders, which state that the police should not obstruct journalists at a crime scene.

“Sanef will send a request for an urgent meeting with the national police commissioner, General Riah Phiyega,” Sanef said in a statement.

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The Star

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