DURBAN - Businesswoman and Housewives of Durban reality TV star Sorisha Naidoo has welcomed the Press Ombudsman judgment calling on the Daily Maverick to apologise for linking her to state capture.
This comes after the Daily Maverick’s Rebecca Davis penned a piece titled “...Real Housewives of State Capture” on June 28, 2021, which allegedly linked Naidoo and her husband Vivian Reddy to state capture.
In a statement, Naidoo said the headline was a clear hatchet job and a smear campaign against her, seeking to tarnish her dignity and her family's reputation.
“It is a known fact that from the now-concluded Zondo’s State Capture Commission, no one implicated me or my husband’s businesses. The Daily Maverick’s headline and propaganda piece was mischievous and malicious lies.
“Sadly, when the Daily Maverick lost the case with the Press Ombudsman in September, they decided to appeal the case, digging in their heels to attempt to defend their absurd propaganda smear,” said Naidoo.
She further expressed that she and Reddy built their businesses on the back of ethics, and ethical conduct, however, the media had been tarnishing their family’s name.
She said the family was currently filing lawsuits against numerous newspapers and an author of a discredited book.
“The family remained silent because it did not want to wrestle with the pigs in the mud. Smear artists who moonlight as journalists have been making a living and a feast off propaganda, smear, and lies and it ends here. The judgment by the Press Ombudsman was one of the affirmations that propaganda and smear have no place in the mainstream.
“One example of how disingenuous the media was, got exposed when Edison Power was robbed of R150 million through acts of corruption by crooked executives. Instead of fairly covering the story, some malicious media houses wrote headlines that turned the story around, falsely accusing the company of wrongdoing, when the company was actually a victim of corruption,” said Naidoo.
She added that a legal action awaits another publication after it allegedly launched a ‘smear attack through fake defamatory articles’ after the couple concluded a property sale deal.
“When Reddy attended an ANC gala dinner, again the attempts to undermine his attendance were made using social media, some faceless cowards attempted to scandalise his attendance. Those who know the history of my husband’s contribution to the struggle, know that he has been supporting and attending the ANC gala dinners since 1994 when Nelson Mandela was President. The immature remarks were nothing but a coordinated smear attack.
“The days of us tolerating all the fake news are over. We are not going to remain silent in the face of propaganda and shoddy journalism. We will utilise every avenue available to ensure that those engaged in propaganda smear against us shall be held to account,” she concluded.
Daily News