Ad Hominem Attack on SABC Journalist

It has come to the attention of the SA National Editors’ Forum that an organisation called Women and Men Against Child Abuse (WMACA) has publicly attacked SABC investigative journalist Jamaine Krige for a story about convicted former tennis star Bob Hewitt and the evidence of his victims.

Two victims testified in court that they had limited contact with each other and denied colluding to tailor their evidence. However, according to an SABC investigation, there were over 1000 email conversations between the victims. The SABC news report on this matter prompted the WMACA to launch an ad hominem attack on Krige.

SANEF believes that to impute motives to the journalist for doing her work while not challenging the veracity of the information is unfair and unjust. Moreover, what Hewitt’s defence team may or may not choose to do with the information is of no concern to the journalist, whose role is to report news that is in the public interest without fear or favour.

It is therefore neither the WMACA’s role nor responsibility to decide for the SABC which stories to report about. If the organisation believes the SABC has erred, it has recourse to the law or the Broadcasting Complaints Commission & does not need to resort to a public attack on Krige.

For more enquiries contact:
Katy Katopodis
082 805-7022

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