Statement of the African National Congress on newspaper report that "Gold Fields bribed ANC Chair"

The African National Congress places on record its extreme displeasure with the article published in the September 6th edition of the Mail & Guardian titled "Gold Fields bribed ANC Chair" (see here).  The Mail & Guardian deliberately uses this headline with an intention to be sensational, defamatory and slanderous. Nowhere in the story are these claims that the ANC National Chairperson was bribed proven nor at the very least substantiated.

Nowhere in this story is it reported how, when, why and who bribed the ANC National Chairperson. Inconveniences like facts are ignored by the Mail and Guardian because through the headline alone the damage the paper sought to create has been done.

The Mail & Guardian has once again taken a decision to position itself as an anti-ANC force that will stop at nothing to discredit the ANC and its leaders. In publishing a sensational headline that is meant to cast aspersion on the prrson of Comrade Baleka Mbete in her capacity as National Chairperson of the African National Congress and on her as an individual, the paper has opted to ignore the very basic principle of objectivity and truth.

In their eagerness to discredit the National Chairperson and the ANC, the paper published a story that is flimsy, unsubstantiated and is just an exercise in slander.

The story is littered with innuendos and overt suggestions that the National Chairperson would have "used her power to sink the deal". Of their own admission, the paper clearly states that it does not know how the National Chairperson would have done this - they just focused solely on tainting her good name, her image and that of her organisation with impunity devoid of any fact and with absolute disregard of their malicious act. 

The African National Congress demands a retraction of the story and an apology to the National Chairperson of the African National Congress, Comrade Baleka Mbete and the African National Congress.

The ANC shall further exercise its right to respond and expects the Mail and Guardian to publish in full such response. The ANC and the National Chairperson reserve their right shall seek legal counsel and recourse to address this libelous and defamatory act.

Statement issued by Jackson Mthembu, ANC national spokesperson, September 10 2013

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