STATEMENT IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY BY STELLA NDABENI, WHIP FOR COMMUNICATIONS PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE, ON DA'S ATTACK ON PRESS FREEDOM, February 22 2011

We are dismayed and concerned at the unashamed attack on the freedom of the press and free access to information by the Democratic Alliance.

Three months ago, the DA blacklisted Sowetan parliamentary correspondent Anna Majavu for simply doing her job, which is to cover news freely, fairly, and without fear or favour.

Ms Majavu was banned from all media activities of the DA and removed from the party's media list after she exposed the involvement of one of the party councillors, Mr Pieter van Dalen, in the shooting of defenseless black children while playing in Khayelitsha. In what could be regarded as a pat on the back for a job well done, the party later promoted him to a position of a Member of this House.

The party's decision to blacklist Ms Majavu for simply doing her job is a brazen attempt to intimidate and muzzle journalists who do not write sweetheart stories about the DA and its government. It is a known practice of the DA that journalists who do not write favourably on the party are threatened and intimidated. Editors and journalists have in the past written of how Zille and her lieutenants make threatening calls on journalists who refuse to kowtow to their orders.

We condemn in the strongest terms the DA's attempt to dictate to the media how it should conduct its business. This backward tendency, which was prevalent during the apartheid era, has no place in our democracy.

We once again call to the party to immediately cease with these intimidations and apologise to the Sowetan and its journalist.

Statement issued by The ANC Parliamentary Caucus, February 22 2011

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