Dangerous falsehoods in City Press

JOHANNESBURG - The week after the brutal killing of AWB leader, Eugene Terre'Blanche, City Press published an article by Andile Mngxitama, policy advisor to the European Union's Foundation for Human Rights in Johannesburg. Headed "Blacks in Bondage" it stated that due to the "criminal neglect" of black people by the ANC Terre'Blanche "and his gun-toting men" had been allowed to spread terror in Ventersdorp, right up until his death. In support of this contention Mngxitama related the following horrific story:

"In 1997, a young black mayor of Ventersdorp, Kabelo Oupakie Mashi, a staunch member of the SACP, stood up against the bullies of Ventersdorp. He transformed budgets, cajoled the local criminal justice system to take racist violence seriously, and attempted to bring freedom to Ventersdorp. Mashi was abducted and murdered, his body left in the veld. Witnesses were openly intimidated and the murder remains unsolved. If a mayor can be killed for challenging white power and the perpetrators can get away with it, what chance do ordinary mortals have? Terre'Blanche had carte blanche to terrorise black people."

In such a context, Mngxitama argued, Terre'Blanche's killers were not murderers but "mere children" who had heroically acted to defend themselves and their community. Since Ventersdorp was, according to Mngxitama, but a "microcosm of South Africa" presumably this logic would apply to other farm murders in South Africa. These killings too would be a case of young black youth "pushed into a corner" fighting back against their white oppressors.

This article seems to have impressed a number of commentators. The credulous BBC correspondent, Andrew Harding, said on his blog that Mngxitama's piece summed up well the "anger I've heard from black colleagues." In The Times meanwhile Richard Pithouse, of Rhodes University, described the AWB as "like the Ku Klux Klan in some dismal Mississippi town, partisans of a brutal regime of white terror that, as Andile Mngxitama argues, has never released Ventersdorp from its grip."

It is curious that no one seems to have bothered to query the accuracy of the central factual claim in Mngxitama's piece: That AWB members had killed Mashi, that they had been able to cover it up, that the crime remains unsolved to this day, and that (as a result) blacks in Ventersdorp have lived in terror ever since.

Something does not smell quite right about this account. Would the ANC really have allowed one of their own to be murdered by the AWB and then done nothing about it? Even if they had, why didn't the media take up the story?

In truth, the story of the murder of the ANC mayor Ventersdorp, Philip Kabelo Mashi (sometimes spelt "Mashe"), is somewhat different to the version presented by Mngxitama.

According to contemporaneous press reports Mashi went missing on Saturday March 20 1999. He had told family members that he was going to pick up an associate, Johannes Bota Monatle, to take him to a farm in Lichtenburg. He did not return. On Sunday the police launched a search for him and Monatle after a farmer in the Elandskuil area reported seeing his car abandoned in a mielie field.

There was concern expressed in the immediate aftermath of the disappearance that there may have been a political motive behind it. Shortly before Mashi went missing the ANC caucus on the Ventersdorp council had acted to terminate the services of a security company with links to AWB leader, Eugene Terre'Blanche after a series of robberies (The Star, March 25 1999).

The North West police were clearly under pressure to solve the case. They offered a R20,000 reward for information. And by Wednesday, March 24 1999, 80 police officers - on horseback, motorcycles and in helicopters - had been deployed to search for the two missing men.

On Thursday, March 25, police detectives tracked down Monatle to a farm in the Lichtenburg vicinity. He was found with R1,020 in his possession which police suspected came from the R4,000 that Mashi had withdrawn from the bank shortly before his disappearance. Following his arrest Monatle led detectives to the location of Mashi's body, in a sunflower field about 2km from where the car had been abandoned. The police found the murder weapon, a knife, in the vicinity. A subsequent post mortem found Mashi had died after being stabbed in the heart and lungs.

At 5pm the same day Monatle appeared in the Ventersdorp Magistrate's Court on a charge of murder. The Sunday Independent (March 28 1999) reported that following the announcement of the arrest 300 protestors marched to the Tsing police station to demand that Monatle be handed over to them. One elderly resident of the township told the newspaper "This thug who killed our mayor should pay."

In November 2000 the case came before the Pretoria High Court's circuit court in Potchefstroom. Monatle pleaded guilty before Judge van Oosten to one charge of murder and one of robbery. According to the account presented by Monatle to the court Mashi had owed him R2,000 in connection with a transaction involving some rough diamonds, but had refused to pay him the money. This dispute had reached boiling point on the day of the murder, when the two men were sitting together in Mashi's vehicle.

Mashi had climbed out of the car, opened the door on Monatle's side, pulled him out and thrown him to the ground. Monatle had then pulled out his knife and stabbed Mashi in the chest, killing him. Monatle took the deceased's ID book, which contained R2,000, as well as his cellphone. He made his escape in Monatle's car which he abandoned in the mielie field. He threw away the car keys in bushes in Ventersdorp somewhere.

On November 27 2000 Judge van Oosten sentenced Monatle to twenty years in prison for murder and five years for robbery.

To sum up it had taken five days for the police to solve the murder of Philip Kabelo Mashi and a year and eight months to secure a conviction. This story was extensively reported on in most of the Johannesburg newspapers. The Star, Beeld, Citizen, Sunday World and Sunday Independent all ran reports about the disappearance of Mashi and the arrest of Monatle. However, his eventual conviction and sentencing seems to have gone unreported.

In a context where two farmers a week are being murdered in South Africa, the claims of Mngxitama about the murder of Kabelo Mashi are not only false, but dangerous. It is difficult to see why City Press chose to give them credence. On Sunday March 28 1999 the newspaper itself had reported: "After an intensive four day manhunt by police Monatle was found and, according to police, pointed out Mashi's maggot-infested body, the spot where he threw away Mashi's cellphone and the knife suspected to be the murder weapon."

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In vain, Mr Ratcatcher, in vain... Ratcatcher - you are writing in vain to set the record straight. Neither the BBC today, nor the BBC thirty years ago, had any interest in writing an unbiased account of South African history, politics, or race-relations. The source for the BBC bias . .more is invidious, and underlies much of Western Self-hatred. Since Afrikaners are seen as an extension of the Western peoples, the self-hatred of Western commentators are projected onto them, and they have been castigated, accused, and generally blamed as devils by Western Reporters. Rousseaun noble barbarian notions, Western white guilt (sourced in certain brands of Christianity), and the fall-out of two European (World!) Wars, underlies much of Western guilt, and supplies BBC correspondents (such as Andrew Harding) with the reference points for his reporting from SA. In effect, the Boers are getting the blame for English Colonialism. This is convenient for the Anglos, since by blaming Boers they get absolution in the Christian sense, and then can walk away having their debts paid fully in terms of Boer ("European"blood). I would fall on my back if Andrew Harding (or even any other correspondent from any European nation) would write anything contrary to his preconceived ideas sourced in this background. A solution for SA's problems? Let Boers go, as the Pharaoh let Jews go. . .less by JVR on April 23 2010, 16:27 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Frauds It sounds like City press & Mngxitama are taking the kill the farmer chorus to heart, even if it entails lies & deception. by White tendencies on April 23 2010, 17:14 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Where is the Brave DA and Afriforum I would expect them to lay a charge against the City Press for this type of misleading reporting. by Geanann on April 23 2010, 20:10 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

JVR You're so right JVR. I could've not said it better. by jsb on April 23 2010, 20:51 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Thanks for setting the record straight I have yet to read a single article of Andile Mngxitama's that does not rely on fabrications of the truth and bigoted opinions. I hope that City Press has the guts to apologise for publishing Mngxitama's inflammatory lies. The editor, Ferial . .more Haffergee, needs to regain the credibility of readers such as myself otherwise I will become an ex-City Press reader. . .less by Saffer on April 24 2010, 08:06 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

advertise it If I had the money I would've placed big advertisements in the Brit newspapers telling it like it is and reminding their readers that their media is feeding them sh@t! by jsb on April 24 2010, 15:03 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

The Boers are an African people of Caucasian origin. The added sad thing is that the Boers are really an INDIGENOUS African people who just happen to be mainly of Caucasian origin. This is because the Boers developed in Africa on African soil out of a wide variety of folks the VOC dumped at the Cape LONG . .more before the formal arrival of the Colonial powers. Those early arrivals even absorbed limited numbers of native Khoisan along with Malays & Indians therefore the notion that the Boers are an "extension of Western peoples" does further injustice against the Boers as they are a complex people than can not be pigeonholed into a convenient box for Western based public consumption. The Boers began as a people when the poorest members of the Cape colony began to trek OUT of it & inland into the Cape frontier adopting the lifestyle of the Khoisan they replaced & living as impoverished nomads. Those nomads were first called Trekboers before the term was shortened to Boer by the late 1700s. There on the Cape frontier the Boers declared their first Boer Republics against Dutch rule in 1795 at Swellendam & Graaff-Reinet. It was from THIS community that the Great Trek started from as it was a Boer phenomenon while the Cape Dutch then renamed to Afrikaners of the south western Cape did not go on the Great Trek. The Boers were not lumped in with the Afrikaners until after the Anglo-Boer War. . .less by Republican1795. on April 25 2010, 03:32 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Dishonest demagogues We are told : "Richard Pithouse, of Rhodes University, described the AWB as "like the Ku Klux Klan in some dismal Mississippi town, partisans of a brutal regime of white terror that, as Andile Mngxitama argues, has never released Ventersdorp . .more from its grip." One could be forgiven for expecting a little more in the way of a balanced view from an academic. But it seems even some of them are given disingenuous hyperbole. Shame on you Richard! What kind of Boer-bashing graduates do you intend to let loose on our benighted racist society? . .less by mpho on April 25 2010, 22:14 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Above all Richard....... Why join the liars and scheming knaves of this world in propagating dishonest and dangerous falsehoods which could lead to more murders? We know academics are under the cosh to "publish or perish", and that "a paper a day brings promotion . .more and pay", but surely you don't need to sink to use of such disgustingly low immoral devices to make a living? . .less by mpho on April 25 2010, 22:23 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

thank you Thank you ratcatcher. You make one feel that the sisyphus and thankless work of digging out factual information and then using it to confront and shame the hype of the day - in this case a dangerously polarizing one - is not useless at all. Someone out . .more there is encouraged to do the same, and then someone else.. It's such a fragile thing that: hope, determination... . .less by henricus on April 25 2010, 23:48 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Seen from the strategic level... The commenters are undervaluing Ratcatcher's work. The power boys in London want a round of racial violence in SA, so that they can say, We need a strong man to restore order. Then someone like Sexwale is made president, someone who, like him, is . .more hardwired to London and New York financial interests. Who controls City Press? The BBC and Rhodes University need no explaining. . .less by David Cherry on April 26 2010, 00:46 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

thank you ratcatcher. Enlightening information. Too much lies, moral theft and corruption is spread around SA. by fc on April 26 2010, 05:53 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Come again? ' Terre'Blanche's killers were not murderers but "mere children" '? Excuse me, since when is 27 a "mere child"? by ** on April 26 2010, 08:21 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Terminate subscription We will immediatly terminate our subscription - any paper spreading such falsehoods does not deserve to exist!! Haffergee's, credibility is seriously tarnished - is Mngxitama an AA appointee? by Terminator on April 26 2010, 09:54 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Andile Mngxitama and the City Press The article by Mngxitama is a real reminder of how the black african mind works. Perpetrators are popularised as victims - just like the Palestinians in Israel. The same lying, deceiving mentality, no wonder there is such love between the ANC . .more government and the Palestinians. I am confident though, that in the end, truth will prevail. God is not asleep. . .less by Reality check on April 26 2010, 10:03 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Synthetic anger This article demonstrates the complete lack of truthfulness in much of what passes as liberation intellectual dialogue. It could of course not be called dialects, because people like Andile Mngxitama simply do not refer to fact and their logic presupposes . .more an ideologically or revolutionary desired outcome. Anything they say is therefore emotionally immature claptrap that resonates only with those who wish to be bolstered in their prejudice. The pitiful Andrew Harding fell for this nonsense hook, line and sinker. But is Andile Mngxitama also a mere child, who cannot be held accountable for inflammatory statements or, as policy advisor to the European Union's Foundation for Human Rights in Johannesburg, could this individual be taken to task form malicious misrepresentation that it intended to promote racial tension and attempts to provide a justification for genocide? Surely a case can be made to bring this buffoon to account? Then there is the question of journalistic accountability and the implication that the editor of City Press should have known better; that he published factual nonsense; and that he published what amounts to the promotion of racial violence at a most dangerous time of heightened racial conflict in the country? . .less by Jack on April 26 2010, 10:21 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Genocide incitement The blatant demonization of a minority by creating and spreading outright and mob inflammatory lies should be regarded as incitement to genocide and the people involved must be promptly prosecuted. by Injala Apera on April 26 2010, 10:31 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

A passion for an accurate story - the essance of a news hound Dear sir you have tracked down and exterminated the vermin with dilligence and the need to know the truth. I laud you - and celebrate this medium, the internet. The press as we know it has died and it is only a few maggots and blow flies that . .more feed on the remains of a once reliable source of information. It woul be interesting to know what John Simpson would think of the blind publication of this story by his employer BBC. . .less by Nationless on April 26 2010, 10:40 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Pointless complaining here Those complaining should send their complaints to the Press ombudsman and the SAHRC I did http://letterdash.com/g.annandale/hate-speech-in-city-press by Geanann on April 26 2010, 10:49 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Mere children This is the picture of the African, a petulant child who cannot take responsibility and cannot be held accountable. Explains its inferiority by reference to the external. Cannot sustain itself and needs the guilty nations of the world to argue its case. . .more Evergreen, demanding while at the same time biting the hand that feeds it. P*******. . .less by Liberal Twat on April 26 2010, 10:50 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Reality check Which reality are you living in? The Palestinians were chased off their land by the Israelis and settllers were placed there as human shields to hold onto this stolen land . These settlers are portrayed as victims to those who blindly soak up Zionist . .more propaganda. Get yourself a TV see for yourself what is happening in the real world.! . .less by sc on April 26 2010, 10:59 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

City Press Black people will always tell lies to suit their case. Even their black judges will lie to cover up their tracks. Always remember that 80-90% of them have not yet reached the stage where they can understand the Western culture and it's etihics.. Give them . .more another 150 years and who knows, maybe???? . .less by Charlie on April 26 2010, 11:39 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Lies, lies, lies! Thank you Mr Ratcatcher for exposing these BIGOTS ! May they be castigated and charged with writing HATE SPEECH and thrown in some dingy cell to stew in their own rotten guilt - they are in fact traitors who are trying hard to destroy all that has been . .more achieved in South Africa. As for Harding and Pithouse....... well, they are now clearly made out to be the fools of our times - laughable clowns, as bigoted as CITY TRASH! A well written, truthful account of what actually happened to Mashi - It should have been common knowledge to Haffergee, as editor. . .less by croix on April 26 2010, 11:52 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

@ Jack Surely a case can be made to bring this buffoon to account? Hear hear. How about a legal Moneyweb community member commenting. If this is true it is blatanty imho stirring up racial tensions. by ono on April 26 2010, 14:27 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Give us another version 2 Mgxithama it seems you have been caught out. Can you re-write the story and add more facts. I am afraid this version seems plausable. Perhaps version 2 will be more closer to the truth by Gambu on April 26 2010, 15:43 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Oh NO Gambu, Mngxitama maliciously misrepresented facts and generated inflammatory lies, in order to compile a revisionist interpretation of history that supports propaganda intended to promote racial tension, incite murder and justify genocide. If you want . .more the facts, refer to the article above, but there is no way that Mngxitama can rewrite the article and arrive at the desired conclusion if it is based on the facts. The more appropriate response would be to have this bigot silenced. . .less by Jack on April 26 2010, 16:31 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

@Gambu You say : "I am afraid this version seems plausable. Perhaps version 2 will be more closer to the truth" Surely you mean : this version seems implausible? by mpho on April 26 2010, 17:15 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

To Geanann on April 23 2010, 20:10 "Where is the Brave DA and Afriforum/I would expect them to lay a charge against the City Press for this type of misleading reporting" The DA and Afriforum are very separate: your subject should have been "where are" Apart from that, your . .more post gets worse: exactly WHAT charges would you expect them to lay? Bad journalism is not a crime. Hell, 100% of SA's media (barring Moneyweb*) would be arrested if it were. Good luck with the SAHRC: I doubt you will get relief from that set of racist & corrupt cronies. * It never hurts to suck up to the editor. . .less by Theseus on April 26 2010, 18:43 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

The Lie Anybody feeling aggrieved by the good Mr Mngxitama should lay an complain with the Press Ombudsman. I did by Mulungu on April 28 2010, 23:08 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

"Truth"as weknow it. I dont care whether Mngxitama is understood by whites or not because he is writting what we perceive as truth.We know what people in Ventersdorp think about ET and his rascist AWB and why are white people so concerned when it comes to exposing one of . .more their own for who they are whilst at the same time you read D.A always "exposing"how incompetent our black leasders are.If its white then its "right"and black is "wrong".If only white people where to know what black people are thinking about them and how the ANC leaders have manged to discourage the expression of that anger then they would be defending ANC with all that they stole from black people.A time will come when blacks will be sick and tired of listening to the insults of the unrepented whites in this country and demand their freedom by any means necesary and it will be too late for you to ask the ANC to defend your previledged lifestyle from the very ANC you are undermining.A beaten dog soon learns to bite.Viva Andile Mngxitama and please lead us to the promised land and teach black people to be angry again and take what belongs to them by the ballot or the bullet.Freedom must come. . .less by Frank. on May 18 2010, 08:19 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

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