Durban - Within four hours of sending questions to the director of a company that won a R52 million KwaZulu-Natal health tender, a Sapa journalist received a threatening phone call.
“I'm saying to you that if I found out that you write the wrong things about us, then I will deal with you personally.”
This threat to Sapa journalist Giordano Stolley came from a man who called himself Patrick King, but spelt his surname Kaing.
“You (are) just going to come with a witch-hunt and I don't like it. It irritates me if people like you come with racist witch-hunting attitudes.”
Kaing first described himself a friend and then as an associate of Nandi Sakhile Msimang, a director of Mzansi Lifecare (Pty) Ltd, which is leasing a mobile hospital unit to the KwaZulu-Natal health department over three years for R52m.
He then said he was a community member benefiting from the services provided by the lorry and trailer that was manufactured in the Netherlands.
When asked to clarify how he would “deal” with the reporter, Kaing replied: “Well, I don't know. You will see.”
He said the journalist needed to see for himself the good work the mobile health unit was doing in the field.
When advised to take his complaint to Sapa's editor, Kaing replied: “It doesn't matter. I will deal with you by myself.”
A detective at a Durban police station told Sapa a case of intimidation could not be opened because a specific threat had not been made and that Kaing could have been implying he was going to see his lawyers.
A decision was later taken by Sapa not to communicate with Kaing. Msimang was informed of this by sms and e-mail.
Sapa