Donwald Pressly relieved of duty

Cape Town - Independent Newspapers announced yesterday that it had relieved Donwald Pressly of his responsibilities as Business Report’s Cape Town bureau chief and parliamentary correspondent following an internal disciplinary process over his conduct. He was found to have violated the company’s editorial code of conduct and code of ethics by participating in the electoral college process of a political party, in which he applied for placement on its list of potential members of Parliament, and his failure to disclose this to the editor, group executive editor Karima Brown said in a statement. In terms of the company’s disciplinary code, Pressly has the right to appeal. “As a newspaper company we hold the trust that our readers and audiences place in us dearly and will do all we can to safeguard this,” Brown said, adding: “What is at issue here is not affiliation with and/or membership of a political party but the upholding of the company’s principles of conduct as stipulated in its editorial code of conduct and code of ethics.” The company’s codes applied to all employees that made themselves available to any party’s processes or sought any other political office, she said. – Staff Reporter